February. 20, 2020 - In October 2017, Zlatko Dalic was named coach of the Croatia national football team. At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, he took Modric & Co. to the World Cup final. Now, he’s leading the team through the next major International competition - EURO 2020.

The European Football Federation (UEFA) presented the Croatia national team in a video ahead of EURO 2020, featuring coach Zlatko Dalic and midfielder Mateo Kovacic.

“A lot of things have changed. It’s completely different from working at a club. I’m working for my national team, my country. That is what is truly priceless for me,” said Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic at the start of the video, and continued:

“We’ve had an amazing time and we’ve done well again. The situation wasn’t great when I came here. There were a lot of divisions and negativity surrounding the national team. We played matches in empty stadiums. There were fines and problems with our fans. Now whenever we play, the whole country stops and watches. For me, that’s the most important thing. The Croatia national team has finally returned to its people.”

Mateo Kovacic was also interviewed in the video.

“Our coach is a very calm man. He is leading Croatia in the right direction, exactly as it should be. He’s making good, intelligent decisions, and I hope it continues like that,” Kovacic said, and Zlatko Dalic added:

“I didn’t get here by chance. I worked hard for 12 years, I got some good results. I built my name, built my career. What we are now achieving makes these years the best of my career.”

“In Euro 2008 and 2012 we had big opportunities and in 2016 we conceded in the last minuteagainst Portugal. Bad luck followed us for years, but it led to the incredible high of 2018.  Hopefully we’ll have more of those experiences,” said Kovacic.

"We must have quality, be persistent, work hard and be aware that we have got results as a team, not by standing out as individuals. That’s what’s important. I know we will be under pressure but we are used to that," Dalic concluded.

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November 30, 2019 - The Euro 2020 draw was held in Bucharest from 6 pm on Saturday. Croatia will play in Group D with England, the Czech Republic, and the winner of Nations League C. 

The draw for the highly anticipated Euro 2020 began at 6 pm in Bucharest, one of the 12 host cities of this first-time format. The draw included 20 national teams who have already qualified, while we'll find out the four remaining teams in March when the Nations League finals are held. 

Croatia was drawn into Group D with England, the Czech Republic, and the winner of Nations League C (Norway/Serbia v Scotland/Israel).

You can see all of the Euro 2020 groups below:

Group A: Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Wales

Group B: Belgium, Russia, Denmark, Finland

Group C: Ukraine, Netherlands, Austria, A/D-League Playoff Winner

Group D: England, Croatia, Czech Republic, C-League Playoff Winner (Norway/Serbia v Scotland/Israel)

Group E: Spain, Poland, Sweden, winner of the B-League Playoff Winner

Group F: Germany, France, Portugal, D/A-League Playoff Winner

The pots for the draw were as follows:

Pot 1: Italy, Belgium, England, Germany, Ukraine, and Spain

Pot 2: France, Poland, Switzerland, CROATIA, the Netherlands and Russia

Pot 3: Portugal, Turkey, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Czech Republic

Pot 4: Finland, Wales, play-off A, play-off B, play-off C, play-off D

Recall that Croatia could only be drawn in groups A, D, E and F. 

Croatia could not be drawn into Group B, where Denmark and Russia are the hosts, and Group C, with the host Netherlands. Before Saturday, we knew that the possible opponents for Croatia were Italy, England, Spain, and Germany.

The first game of Euro 2020 will be played in Group A, in Rome, Italy starting at 9 pm. 

You can see a breakdown of the cities and stadiums hosting the competition below:

GROUP A

Rome (Italy) - Olimpico (72.698)

Baku (Azerbaijan) - Baku Olympic Stadium (68.700)

GROUP B

Saint Peterburg (Russia) - Gazprom Arena (68.134)

Copenhagen (Denmark) - Parken (38.065)

GROUP C

Amsterdam (Netherlands) - Johan Cruyff Arena (54.990)

Bucharest (Romania) - Arena National (55.600)

GROUP D

London (England) - Wembley (90.000)

Glasgow (Sweden) - Hampden Park (52.063)

GROUP E

Bilbao (Spain) - San Mames (53.332)

Dublin (Republic of Ireland) - Aviva (51.700)

GROUP F

Munich (Germany) - Allianz Arena (75.000)

Budapest (Hungary) - Puskas Arena (67.889)

ROUND OF 16

Bucharest, Copenhagen, Bilbao, London, Glasgow, Dublin, Budapest, Amsterdam

QUARTERFINAL

Saint Petersburg, Munich, Rome, Baku

SEMIFINAL

London

FINAL

London

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

September 25, 2019 - Although the Croatia national team was relegated to League B of the UEFA Nations League last year, a format change keeps them with the elite teams in the competition. 

A meeting of the UEFA Executive Board was held in Ljubljana on Tuesday, deciding that the Elite group of of the Nations League (League A) would be expanded to 16 teams instead of the previous 12 national teams.

Thus, Croatia will remain in the highest-ranking group,  irrespective of the fact that they placed last when they were grouped with England and Spain. Recall, Croatia opened the Nations League last year with a 6:0 loss to Spain, and drew against England in Rijeka behind closed doors. Croatia then fantastically topped Spain in Zagreb 3:2, and lost 2:1 to England at Wembley. 

“The UEFA Nations League will have a new league structure comprising 16 teams in Leagues A, B and C and 7 teams in League D, as of the 2020/21 edition. The teams are allocated to leagues based on the overall ranking following the 2018/19 inaugural UEFA Nations League.

This change to the format follows a consultation process which involved all of UEFA's 55 national associations and reflects upon their desire to further minimise the number of friendly matches.

In addition, it enhances sporting fairness as all teams in the same group will play their last match on the same day and at the same time,” writes UEFA. 

In addition to Croatia, who will again play against Europe's strongest teams, Germany, Poland and Iceland will remain in League A, though they should have also been relegated. It is not yet decided what exactly the Nations League standings will mean for the 2022 World Cup, but that should be known soon.

The teams will be divided into four groups of four teams, and the group winners will compete in the Nations League final tournament (semifinal, match for third place and the final) in June 2021. The group draw is scheduled for March 3, 2020, in Amsterdam. The competition itself will start in the autumn of 2020 and will be played in September, October, and November.

Nations League Groups:

League A: Croatia, Germany, Poland, Iceland, Sweden, Ukraine, Denmark, Portugal, Netherlands, BiH, England, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy.

League B: Russia, Austria, Wales, Czech Republic, Scotland, Norway, Serbia, Finland, Slovakia, Turkey, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, Israel, Hungary, Romania.

League C: Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Georgia, Northern Macedonia, Kosovo, Belarus, Cyprus, Estonia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova

League D: Gibraltar, Faroe Islands, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Malta and San Marino.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

Dinamo Zagreb topped Georgian club Saburtalo both home and away to move to the next round of Champions League qualifications.

Dinamo overcame Georgian club Saburtalo 3:0 in the return match of the second Champions League qualifying round on Thursday, and thus went 5:0 overall to advance to the third qualifying round against Hungarian club Ferencvaros, reports Gol.hr on July 30, 2019.

In the first match in Tbilisi, Dinamo won 2:0, though the return match was much harder for the Zagreb club than expected. Not only did they have to play behind closed doors thanks to a UEFA ban, but the Georgian club had three great chances in the first half which could have potentially shocked the Croatian champion. 

Fortunately, Mislav Oršić cleared any doubts in the 77th minute for 1:0, while Bruno Petković confirmed the Dinamo victory in the 89th minute for 2:0. Interestingly, Oršić and Petković were also the goalscorers in Tbilisi. In the last moments of the match, Spanish superstar Dani Olmo also scored in his first appearance this season for the 3:0 win. 

Dinamo will play against Ferencvaros in the third qualifying round. The Hungarian club beat Valletta 3:1 in their first match in Budapest, while they finished 1:1 in Ta'Qali. 

The first match is scheduled for Tuesday in Zagreb, followed by the return match in Budapest.

Dinamo hosted Saburtalo behind closed doors as they served a UEFA punishment for using pyrotechnics, blocking the stairs and racist behavior during last season's match against Benfica. Dinamo received a two-game ban, though one game is conditional and will be activated if Dinamo is punished again within a two-year period.

For the fifth time in the history of the club, Dinamo played in front of empty stands and achieved their second victory.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

Dinamo Zagreb will not be able to count on the support of their fans in their next two European challenges at Maksimir stadium.

Uefa chose the best young footballers for the Champions League and Europa League, under the conditions that players are less than 24 years old and have not made a significant footprint in Europe until now. Two young Croatian footballers have made the list!

The Union of European Football Associations, known better as UEFA, will select the best 11 footballers of 2018. Luka Modrić and Ivan Rakitić are among the 50 nominees. 

November 18, 2018 - An unfortunate result at Wembley for Croatia as they failed to win against England in the final round of the Nations League group stage. 

November 15, 2018 - Croatia still has a shot in the UEFA Nations League after an incredible last minute win against Spain in Zagreb. 

There are no longer any tickets available for the highly anticipated UEFA Nations League match between Croatia and Spain on Thursday at Maksimir stadium in Zagreb.