Croatia's World Cup finalists were welcomed by 555,000 people in Zagreb on Monday. 

More than 550,000 fans welcomed the Croatia national team in Zagreb on Monday.

Croatia and Argentina will meet in Nizhny Novgorod on Thursday, June 21. 

While Croatia's performance could have been much better, media in the Balkan region is not shying away from praising the national team. 

Although they didn’t make it to the World Cup, the United States is marking the start of the world's biggest football competition by lighting up New York City’s Empire State Building with the colors of the 32 national teams in the tournament. 

"The flight times are the least of their problems, and the bigger problem will be changing time zones, which can be a difference of seven hours.”

The latest FIFA ranking was released on Thursday, June 7, 2018. 

Some fun facts ahead of this year's international football spectacle. 

The final list of 23 players on the road to Russia has been announced.

The biggest, but not the last, test before the World Cup in Russia saw Croatia and Brazil in a friendly match at Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium on Sunday, June 3, 2018. Brazil is one of the biggest favorites to win the World Cup in Russia this year.