Football World Cup 1998 / Croatia

Croatia achieved third place at the 1998 World Cup .

qualification

The qualification for this final round was rather mediocre for Croatia .

After a 4-1 opening win against Bosnia-Herzegovina, they only managed to draw three times in a row at home, even against the bottomed-up Slovenia. In this game against their northern neighbors they even gave up a 3-1 lead, and the Croatian team was whistled by their own fans for the first time after the end of the game. At that time the Croatians did not have a secure central defense, so they only conceded once in eight group games. Another problematic case was goalkeeper Dražen Ladić , who blundered several times, including in the home game against Denmark when Brian Laudrup managed to score from the corner flag and thus take the victory from Croatia just before the end. Bad luck was added, e.g. B. when the referee team in the game against Greece overlooked a clear handball in front of the goal by the Greeks. In the second leg in Athens, the Croatians pulled their "head out of the loop" and landed an important away win. After the defeat in Denmark, however, Miroslav Blažević's team had to rely on the help of a shooter on the last matchday in order to reach second place. With the win in Slovenia and the simultaneous draw in the parallel game between Greece and Denmark, Croatia finished second. In the relegation against Ukraine, the Croatians kept their heads clear and qualified for the first time as an independent nation for a World Cup final.

Group stage

October 8, 1996 Bosnia-Herzegovina-Croatia 1: 4

0: 1 Bilić (14) 1-1 Salihamidžić (25) 1-2 Vlaović (42) 1-3 Bokšić (64)

1-4 Boksic (85)

November 10, 1996 Croatia-Greece 1-1

0-1 Nikolaidis (9) 1-1 Šuker (45)

March 29, 1997 Croatia-Denmark 1: 1

1: 0 Suker (50) 1: 1 Brian Laudrup (82)

April 2, 1997 Croatia-Slovenia 3: 3

1-0 Prosinečki (33) 2-0 Boban (43) 2-1 Gilha (45) 3-1 Boban (63) 3-2

Gilha (65) 3-3 Gilha (67)

04/30/1997 Greece-Croatia 0: 1

0: 1 Suker (75)

September 6, 1997 Croatia-Bosnia-Herzegovina 3-2

0-1 Baljić (18) 1-1 Bilić (27) 2-1 Silvio Marić (40) 3-1 Boban (80)

3-2 Salihamidžić (85)

10 September 1997 Denmark-Croatia 3-1

1-0 Brian Laudrup (15) 2-0 Michael Laudrup (35) 3-0 Molnar (40) 3-1

Suker (43)

October 11, 1997 Slovenia-Croatia 1: 3

0-1 Šuker (11) 0-2 Soldo (40) 0-3 Bokšić (53) 1-3 Zahovič (72)

rank	country	Gates	Points
1	Denmark	14: 6	17th
2	Croatia	17:12	15th
3	Greece	11: 4	14th
4th	Bosnia and Herzegovina	9:14	9
5	Slovenia	5:20	1

Relegation

October 29, 1997 Croatia - Ukraine 2-0 (1-0)

1-0 Bilić (11) 2-0 Vlaović (49)

November 15, 1997 Ukraine 1-1 Croatia

1: 0 Shevchenko (4) 1: 1 Bokšić (27)

Croatian contingent

No.	Surname	Club before the start of the World Cup	birthday	Games	Gates
goalkeeper
1	Dražen Ladic	Croatia Zagreb	01/01/1963	7th	0	0	0
12	Marijan Mrmić	Beşiktaş Istanbul	05/06/1965	0	0	0	0
22nd	Vladimir Vasilj	Croatia Zagreb	07/06/1975	0	0	0	0
Defender
3	Anthony Seric	Hajduk Split	January 15, 1979	0	0	0	0
4th	Igor Štimac	Derby County	09/06/1967	7th	0	1	0
5	Goran Juric	Croatia Zagreb	02/05/1963	0	0	0	0
6th	Slaven Bilic	Everton FC	09/11/1968	7th	0	2	0
15th	Igor Tudor	Hajduk Split	04/16/1978	3	0	0	0
18th	Zoran Mamić	Bayer 04 Leverkusen	09/30/1971	0	0	0	0
20th	Dario Simic	Croatia Zagreb	11/12/1975	6th	0	3	0
midfield player
7th	Aljoša Asanović	SSC Naples	December 14, 1965	7th	0	2	0
8th	Robert Prosinečki	Croatia Zagreb	01/12/1969	5	2	1	0
10	Zvonimir Boban	AC Milan	10/08/1968	6th	0	2	0
11	Silvio Marić	Croatia Zagreb	03/20/1975	4th	0	0	0
13	Mario Stanic	AC Parma	04/10/1972	7th	1	2	0
14th	Zvonimir Soldo	VfB Stuttgart	11/02/1967	6th	0	2	0
17th	Robert Jarni	Betis Seville	10/26/1968	7th	1	1	0
21st	Krunoslav Jurčić	Croatia Zagreb	11/26/1969	3	0	1	0
striker
2	Petar Krpan	NK Osijek	07/01/1974	1	0	0	0
9	Before that, Šuker	real Madrid	01/01/1968	7th	6th	1	0
16	Adrian Kozniku	Croatia Zagreb	October 27, 1967	0	0	0	0
19th	Goran Vlaović	Valencia CF	08/07/1972	7th	1	0	0
Trainer
	Miroslav Blažević		02/10/1935

Croatian team matches

Preliminary round

The preliminary round group H was able to finish the Croatian selection ahead of the two outsiders Jamaica and Japan in second place, as expected, but in these three games one could not have guessed that Croatia would even make it to the bottom four.

June 14, 1998 ( Lens )

• Jamaica - Croatia 1: 3 (1: 1)

Jamaica: Barrett, Goodison, Cargill (53rd Powell), Earle (72nd Williams), Sinclair, Simpson, Lowe, Whitmore, Gardner, Burton, Hall (82nd Boyd) Croatia: Ladić, Bilić, Štimac, Soldo, Šimić ( 72. Vlaović), Prosinečki, Asanović, Boban, Stanić, Jarni, Šuker

0: 1 Stanić (27) 1: 1 Earle (45) 1: 2 Prosinečki (53) 1: 3 Šuker (68)

Referee: Vitór M. Melo Pereira (Portugal)

June 20, 1998 ( Nantes )

• Japan - Croatia 0: 1 (0: 0)

Japan: Kawaguchi, Nakanishi, Ihara, Akita, Narahashi (79th Morishima), Yamagushi, Nanami (83rd Lopez), Nakata, Soma, Nakayama (61st Okano) Croatia: Ladić, Bilić, Štimac (46th Vlaović), Soldo , Šimić, Jurčić, Prosinečki (67th Marić), Asanović, Stanić (88th Tudor), Jarni, Šuker

0: 1 Šuker (77)

Referee: Ramesh Ramdhan (Trinidad and Tobago)

June 26, 1998 ( Bordeaux )

• Argentina - Croatia 1: 0 (1: 0)

Argentina: Roa, Vivas, Ayala, Paz, Zanetti (68th Simeone), Almeyda, Verón, Gallardo (81st Berti), Pineda, Batistuta, Ortega (53rd López) Croatia: Ladić, Bilić, Marić (46th Vlaović) , Soldo, Šimić, Prosinečki (68th Štimac), Asanović, Boban, Stanić, Jarni, Šuker

1-0 Pineda (36)

Referee: Said Belqola (Morocco)

Round of 16

The round of 16 against Romania was an overall mediocre game for both teams. The Croatians were superior and deserved to win, but the next opponent, the three-time world champion Germany, did not have to worry after this game. A dubious penalty after a foul on Asanović brought the decision.

June 30, 1998 ( Bordeaux )

• Romania - Croatia 0: 1 (0: 1)

Romania: Stelea, Filipescu, Gh .Popescu, Ciobotariu, Petrescu (76th Marinescu), Gâlcă, Ga. Popescu (61st Niculescu), Hagi (57th Craioveanu), Munteanu, Moldovan, Ilie Croatia: Ladić, Bilić, Štimac, Šimić, Jurčić, Asanović, Boban, Stanić (83rd Tudor), Jarni, Šuker, Vlaović (77th Krpan)

0: 1 Šuker (45, penalty kick)

Referee: Javier Alberto Castrilli (Argentina)

Quarter finals

The German team was decimated after 40 minutes, but was able to develop a few chances in the second half until the 2-0 draw. The Croatians with the surprisingly strong Dražen Ladić in goal did not allow a goal and made the surprise perfect.

July 4, 1998 ( Lyon )

• Germany - Croatia 0: 3 (0: 1)

Germany: Köpke, Wörns, Matthäus, Kohler, Heinrich, Hamann (79th Marshal), Häßler (69th Kirsten), Jeremies, Tarnat, Klinsmann, Bierhoff Croatia: Ladić, Bilić, Štimac, Soldo, Šimić, Asanović, Boban, Stanić , Jarni, Šuker, Vlaović (83rd Marić)

0: 1 Jarni (45) 0: 2 Vlaović (80) 0: 3 Šuker (89)

Red card: Wörns (40)

Referee: Rune Pedersen (Norway)

Semifinals

Even reaching the semi-finals was a huge success, so there wasn't much to lose against the hosts. The opening goal by Davor Šuker was ultimately more of a problem than it helped, because after the equalizer, the French had the game better under control against the somewhat shocked Croatians and won.

July 8, 1998 ( Paris , Stade de France )

• France - Croatia 2: 1 (0: 0)

France: Barthez, Thuram, Desailly, Blanc, Lizarazu, Karembeu (30th Henry), Dechamps, Zidane, Petit, Guivarc'h (69th Trezeguet), Djorkaeff (75th Leboeuf) Croatia: Ladić, Bilić, Štimac, Soldo, Šimić, Asanović, Boban (65th Marić), Stanić (90th Prosinečki), Jarni, Šuker, Vlaović

0: 1 Šuker (46) 1: 1 Thuram (47) 2: 1 Thuram (69)

Red card: Blanc (74)

Referee: José María García Aranda (Spain)

3rd place match

July 11, 1998 ( Paris , Parc des Princes )

• Netherlands - Croatia 1: 2 (1: 2)

Netherlands: van der Sar, Stam, F. de Boer, Numan, Seedorf, Jonk, Davids, Cocu (46th Overmars), Zenden, Bergkamp (58th van Hooijdonk), Kluivert

Croatia: Ladić, Bilić, Štimac, Soldo, Jurčić, Prosinečki (78th Vlaović), Asanović, Boban (86th Tudor), Stanić, Jarni, Šuker

0: 1 Prosinečki (13) 1: 1 Zenden (21) 1: 2 Šuker (36)

Referee: E. González Chavez (Paraguay)

The small country (approx. 4.5 million inhabitants) reached the semi-finals at the first World Cup tournament since independence.