September 27, 2022 - The young Croatia national team is going to the Euros! Croatia beat Denmark on penalties on Tuesday, securing their spot at the 2023 U21 Euros. 

The U21 Croatia national team faced Denmark on Tuesday for a spot at the 2023 European Championship. Four days ago, Igor Bišćan's side won 2:1 against Denmark in Pula, and today in Vejle, they played the return match of the additional qualifications.

The young Croatia team was after their third consecutive European tournament. In 2019, Croatia did not make it out of their group, and Spain was better in the quarter-final last year. 

The match on Tuesday ended with Denmark winning 2:1, and as Croatia celebrated an identical result in the first match last week, the game went into extra time. As the match remained 2:1 at the end of extra time, the winner was decided by a penalty shootout. Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Kotarski was the hero, saving shots from Thomas Kristensen in the fourth round and Mathias Ross in the sixth round. 

Denmark took a 2:0 lead with goals from Matthew O'Riley (10) and Morten Frendrup (19), but Croatia brought the match to extra time with a goal from Igor Matanović in the 84th minute.

Croatia has thus qualified for its fifth European Under-21 Championship and the third in a row. In their four attempts so far, Croatia had gotten out of the group stage only once, in 2021, when they were eliminated in the quarter-final. 

The Euros are scheduled from June 21 to July 8, 2023, and will be played in eight stadiums in five cities. Matches will be played in the Romanian cities of Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca and the Georgian cities of Tbilisi, Batumi, and Kutaisi. Romania will host the opening match, and the final will be played in Georgia.

The group draw is scheduled for October 18 in Bucharest, and the national teams will be divided into four groups of four teams each.

The three best national teams from the Euros will qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. As the host of the Olympics, France has already secured their place. 

Lineups

Denmark: Hermansen - Carstensen, Kristensen, Ross, Kristiansen - O'Riley, Frendrup, Kjaergaard - Isaksen, Tengstedt, Daramy

Croatia: Kotarski - Hodža, Vušković, Soldo, Čolina - Pršir, Franjić, Sučić - Vidović, Beljo, Šego

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November 16, 2021 - More good news for Croatian football with the Croatia U21s undefeated in the Euro 2023 qualifiers so far, this time beating Austria away 3:1.

The young Croatia national football team continued their Euro 2023 qualifiers against Austria on Monday - and with an away win, Croatia has recorded its sixth victory in the same number of matches in the European Championship qualifiers. Igor Bišćan's team defeated Austria 3:1 (0:2) in a Croatia-fan-dominated Ried. Lukas Kačavenda, Bartol Franjić, and Luka Sučić scored for Croatia, while Romano Schmid scored for Austria. 

Croatia was dangerous already in the 10th minute when Marin found Boško Šutalo with a corner kick on the near post, though the ball was sent over the goal. Austria retaliated two minutes later when Demir fired a free kick from more than 20 meters, but Kotarski was solid in the defense. 

Kačavenda put Croatia in the lead in the 14th minute with an excellent goal. The Lokomotiva striker nailed the upper right corner from 20 meters.

Austria came close to equalizing in the 17th and 21st minutes. 

Croatia crowned a better game in the first half with another goal. In the 41st minute, Sučić sent the ball far post from a free kick. Captain Franjić's shot bounced off the goal and crossed the goal line before Hedl managed to control it.

At the beginning of the second half, Croatia increased its advantage after Marin was knocked down on the edge of the penalty area. Sučić scored for 3:0. 

Austria threatened Croatia often in the last half hour. Austria finally got a goal in the 67th minute when Schmid scored a precise shot from 20 meters, similar to Kačavenda's goal in the first half.

In the second game in this group played on Tuesday, Norway defeated Azerbaijan 2:1 away. Croatia now has 18 points, Norway is second with 15, and Austria third with 12 and a game more.

Croatia thus stays at the top of the group with a three-point advantage over Norway. Their qualifying journey will continue at the end of March next year when they will compete against Austria and Finland at home.

Nine group winners and the best second-placed team will qualify for the European Championships, while the remaining eight runners-up will advance to additional qualifications.

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November 12, 2021 - The Croatia U21 team continued their winning streak in the 2023 Euro qualifiers, topping Estonia 2:0 in Pula on Thursday night. 

The Croatia U21 national football team recorded its fifth consecutive victory in Group A of the 2023 Euro qualifiers, defeating Estonia 2:0 in Pula. Roko Šimić (39) and Jurica Pršir (62) scored Croatia's goals. 

Croatia was already a step closer to the victory in the 5th minute. Baturina shot from the right but hit the post. Pršir shot on goal in the 39th minute, but Šimić solidly put the rebound into the net. It was his sixth goal in these qualifiers.

In the second half, Croatia continued to dominate. In the 55th minute, Kačavenda shot from the outside and hit the crossbar. Croatia resolved all doubts about who would win in the 62nd minute when Pršir scored a great goal from more than 20 meters. 

Croatia calmly kept the lead until the end of the match and continued their perfect series in the 2023 Euro qualifications.

Croatia leads the group with a maximum of 15 points and a goal difference of 14-3, and Norway is second with 9 points and a game less, while Austria has the same number of points. Estonia is last with six defeats and a 0-19 goal difference.

The winners of the nine groups and the best second-placed national team will directly qualify for the 2023 European Championships, which will be held from June 9 to July 2 in Romania and Georgia. 

The remaining eight runners-up will play in additional qualifiers for four more teams at the European Championships. 

RESULTS:

Croatia - Estonia 2-0 (Šimić 39, Pršir 62)

On Friday, November 12, Azerbaijan will host Austria, and Norway will host Finland. 

Standings

1. CROATIA 5 5 0 0 14-3 15

2. Norway 4 3 0 1 13-4 9

3. Austria 5 3 0 2 14-6 9

4. Finland 4 2 1 1 7-4 7

5. Azerbaijan 4 0 1 3 2-14 1

6. Estonia 6 0 0 6 0-19 0

Austria will host Croatia in the next 2023 Euro qualifier on November 16. 

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