At the 1998 FIFA World Cup Croatia participated in the event for the first time. The country went on to finish third.
Qualifications
Croatia was drawn in Group A of UEFA's World Cup qualifications along with Bosnia and Herzegovina , Denmark , Greece , and Slovenia . Croatia finished second, behind Denmark, and qualified for the World Cup. The team had the following results:
Results
Date
Venue
Opponent
Score
October 8, 1996
Stadio Renato Dall'Ara , Bologna
Bosnia and Herzegovina
4:1
November 10, 1996
Maksimir Stadium , Zagreb
Greece
1:1
March 29, 1997
Poljud Stadium , Split
Denmark
1:1
April 2, 1997
Poljud Stadium , Split
Slovenia
3:3
April 30, 1997
Toumba Stadium , Thessaloniki
Greece
1:0
September 6, 1997
Maksimir Stadium , Zagreb
Bosnia and Herzegovina
3:2
September 10, 1997
Parken Stadium , Copenhagen
Denmark
1:3
October 11, 1997
Bežigrad Stadium , Ljubljana
Slovenia
3:1
The final standings were the following:
Players
Team captain Zvonimir Boban is the only player that appeared in all 10 qualifying matches. Davor Šuker was top scorer with 5 goals. Ardian Kozniku , Petar Krpan , Anthony Šerić and Vladimir Vasilj did not appear in any of the qualifying matches but made the final World Cup squad.
Complete list of players in the qualifying matches
Source: Croatian Football Federation
Player was not selected for the 1998 FIFA World Cup squad
World Cup Squad
Head coach: Miroslav Blažević
Croatia at the World Cup
At the World Cup, Croatia was drawn into Group H along with Argentina , Jamaica , Japan . The team advanced to the round of sixteen, finishing in second place in the group. The team had the following results:
June 14, 1998
June 20, 1998
June 26, 1998
Croatia went on to face the Romanian squad in the round of sixteen.
June 30, 1998
Croatia then played the heavily favoured German squad in the quarter-finals after their victory over Romania.
July 4, 1998
After this surprise victory, Croatia played the host French team.
July 8, 1998
Croatia lost the match against France, ending their World Cup dreams. However, they entered the third place consolation match against the Netherlands .
July 11, 1998
With this victory, Croatia finished in third, becoming the surprise of the tournament. Striker Davor Šuker also earned the tournament's Golden Boot for his six goals.[1]
References