November 18, 2020 - After a turbulent but successful journey through the qualifications, the Croatia U-21 side will play at the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship!

After a huge victory against Lithuania in Pula (7:0) and Greece’s victory against Scotland (1:0), the young Vatreni won second place in the qualifying Group 4 for the European Championship, and the results in other groups allowed them to place among the five the best runners-up.

Before the final round, Croatia was in a difficult, almost hopeless situation. After they played 2:2 in Scotland and the Czech Republic defeated Greece, it was clear that Croatia lost their chances for first place.

The only hope for qualifying for the Euros was to get through among the top five runners-up. However, coach Igor Bišćan's side did not depend only on themselves, but on other matches' outcome.

In the end, it all came together.

First of all, Croatia had to beat Lithuania in Pula with three or four goals to have the best possible goal differential.

Although Croatia played without Adrian Šemper, Joško Guardiola, Borna Sosa, Darko Nejašmić, Sandra Kulenović, Lovro Majer, David Čolina, and Bartol Franjić, they still beat Lithuania 7:0.

Croatia also needed a victory for Greece in Athens against direct rival Scotland, who needed a victory to win first place in the group. Greece celebrated 1:0, thus pushing Croatia to second and Scotland to third.

With the victory in Pula and Scotland's defeat, Croatia won second place in the group behind the Czech Republic but had to wait for the outcome in other groups to find out if it will be one of the five best second-placed national teams.

Among the five were certainly Portugal and Switzerland, and almost certainly Iceland, whose match against Armenia was canceled.

Croatia, Belgium, Romania, and Poland fought for the remaining two places. With a convincing victory against Lithuania, Croatia overtook Poland, but they still needed a Belgium mistake against Bosnia and Herzegovina or Romania against Denmark.

Croatia was helped by the young BiH team, who beat Belgium 3:2 in a great match in Sarajevo.

Croatia will thus play in the group stage from March 24 to 31, 2021, and if they pass the group, they will play in the second round of the European Championship from May 31 to June 6, 2021.

Croatia played at the European Championship in 2000 and 2004, and at the last edition in 2019, in Italy and San Marino.

In addition to the hosts Hungary and Slovenia, the national teams of Croatia, Russia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, England, France, Italy, Portugal, Germany, and the Czech Republic, which took first place in Group 4, have so far won visas for the European Championship.

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September 7, 2020 - In the Euro 2021 qualifier tonight, the Croatia U-21 Squad and the Czech Republic drew 0:0. 

The Croatia U-21 national team drew against the Czech Republic in the 6th round of qualifications for the European Championship, which will be played next year in Slovenia and Hungary.

With a victory, Croatia would catch up with the Czech Republic and Greece and finish with a chance to qualify for the Euro. However, with this draw, they remained five points behind the first-placed Czech Republic and three points behind second-placed Greece.

The match saw plenty of fouls, and the best player was Borna Sosa, who dominated the right side of the Czech defense throughout the match.

In the first 20 minutes of the match, there were no opportunities on either side. Croatia had the first opportunity in the 35th minute when Sosa served Spikic whose shot was saved by the Czech goalkeeper. In the 42nd minute, the best chance of the match was missed by the Czech side, as Drchal's shot was stopped by Semper.

The second half continued in a similar rhythm as the first until the 55th minute when Musa missed a stellar opportunity for Croatia. Drchal had a chance to endanger Semper's goal in the 67th minute, but unlucky in the end.

In the qualifying group, the Czech Republic is in first place with 15 points, in second is Greece with 13, while Croatia is in third place with 10 points after six games played.

The winners of nine groups and the five best second-placed teams will qualify directly for the Euro.

Croatia is now facing a difficult road to Euro U-21 because it must win all matches until the end of qualifying if it wants to stay in the game to advance. 

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September 3, 2020 - The Croatia U-21 national football team remained in the game for a spot at the 2021 European Championship after toppling Greece 5:0 in Varazdin, inflicting their first defeat in the group.

Goals for Croatia were scored by Nikola Moro (1), Lovro Majer (5, 24), and Petar Musa (14, 52).

After recording two defeats in the first four rounds, and two home defeats at that, the Croatia U-21 national team did not have the chance to take Greece lightly.

The young Vatreni started the qualifying cycle for the European Championship with home defeats to Scotland and the Czech Republic and away victories against San Marino and Lithuania. There was a several-month break due to the coronavirus epidemic, and the continuation of the qualifications brought perhaps two key matches. The first against Greece has been settled, and in four days, Croatia is expected to play against the leading Czech Republic.

After coach Igor Biscan tested positive for the coronavirus and the entire professional staff ended up in self-isolation, the team was led by the main instructor of the Croatian Football Federation, Petar Krpan, and the coach of the Croatia U-17 side Tomislav Rukavina. While Biscan was the brains behind the composition, Krpan and Rukavina executed flawlessly.

The match was essentially over already just 24 minutes in as Croatia went up by four goals.

Croatia took the lead in the 45th second of the game. Sosa pulled up the left side and pushed into the middle; the ball bounced to the edge of the penalty area where Moro scored fantastically for 1:0. Just four minutes later, it was 2:0. Moro curved the ball into the penalty area where Majer headed in for the second goal. In the 14th minute, Musa was among the scorers, assisted by Spikic. Majer completed an incredible 25 minutes with his second goal on Sosa's assist.

In the continuation of the match, the rhythm dropped as expected, and the only goal was in the 52nd minute. Erlic ideally found Musa, who went around the goalkeeper Antonios Stergiakis and scored in an empty net.

With this victory, Croatia broke through to the third place of the group with nine points from five matches. Greece has a point more, while the Czech Republic is in the lead with 14 points from six matches.

The winners of nine groups and the five best second-placed teams will qualify directly for the Euros.

Source:  HRT

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After 15 years, the Croatia U-21 national team will play at the European Championships, which will be held from June 16 to 30 in Italy and San Marino, reports HRT on June 15, 2019. 

The last time the young Croatian side performed was at the 2004 European Championship in Germany, when the team led by Darijo Srna, Niko Kranjčar, and Eduardo da Silva did not advance out of their group. Croatia’s U-21s also participated in Slovakia in 2000 but failed to make it out of their group then, too. The team led by Stipe Pletikosa, Igor Tudor, and Jurica Vranješ finished last in their group.

Furthermore, in their two Euro appearances to date, Croatia’s young team did not win a single game, drew two, and felt defeat four times for a 7-11 ratio. 

This time, however, Croatia is going to the Euro with high ambitions. Ambitions so great they hope to place at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, which has not been achieved by any Croatian football generation. A visa for Japan comes with a spot in the semifinal.

“Just making it to the European Championship is a success, but of course, we will not be satisfied with it, we are motivated to do something more. We have the talent, as well as the responsibility, compactness, homogeneity, and discipline for a good result. This generation breathes together, and we are lead by Croatia in Russia last summer,” said Croatia’s U-21 coach Nenad Gračan.

“We are also talking about possibly going to the Olympic Games, which would be a great achievement for all, and especially for me to go there as a coach. If we hope for it, maybe it will happen. That’s the sport,” the Croatian coach said.

The U-21 Euro will feature 12 teams divided into three groups of four teams. Croatia is in Group C together with France, England, and Romania. Group A boasts Italy, Spain, Poland and Belgium, and Group B Germany, Denmark, Serbia, and Austria.

The three group winners and the best second-placed team will secure a spot in the semifinal. However, in the event England makes the semis, they are not eligible for the Olympic tournament, which will result in a playoff between the second and third most successful second-placed teams from the three groups. 

Croatia will play all three group games in San Marino and will open the tournament on June 18 against Romania. Three days later, they’ll play against France, and in the final round on June 24, they’ll meet England.

“Romania kicked out Portugal and is coming with five A-team players. It will not be easy, but we will try to win. I'm sure none of our rivals are too happy to meet us. The tournament is demanding, with games every third day, and there won’t be many opportunities for rest,” Gračan added.

Germany will try to defend the title after defeating Spain 1:0 in the 2017 final. Italy holds the record five titles, while Spain has won four times. 

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