| Competition: | Hrvatski Telekom Prva liga |
| Season: | 2021–22 |
| Dates: | 16 July 2021 – 21 May 2022 |
| Winners: | Dinamo Zagreb (23rd Croatian title) |
| Relegated: | Hrvatski Dragovoljac |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Dinamo Zagreb |
| Continentalcup2: | Europa League |
| Continentalcup3: | Europa Conference League |
| Continentalcup3 Qualifiers: | Hajduk Split Osijek Rijeka |
| League Topscorer: | Marko Livaja (28) |
| Matches: | 180 |
| Total Goals: | 504 |
| Longest Wins: | 6 games |
| Longest Unbeaten: | Osijek 13 games |
| Longest Winless: | 15 games |
| Longest Losses: | 8 games |
| Highest Attendance: | 30,524 Hajduk Split 0–0 Osijek |
| Lowest Attendance: | 50 Hrvatski Dragovoljac 1–1 Lokomotiva |
| Attendance: | 502,012 |
| Average Attendance: | 2,789[1] |
| Prevseason: | 2020–21 |
| Nextseason: | 2022–23 |
The 2021–22 Croatian First Football League (officially Hrvatski Telekom Prva liga for sponsorship reasons) was the 31st season of the Croatian First Football League, the national championship for men's association football teams in Croatia, since its establishment in 1992. Contested by 10 teams, the season started on 16 July 2021 and ended on 21 May 2022. Dinamo Zagreb, the defending champions, successfully defended their title.
On 23 April 2021, Croatian Football Federation announced that the first stage of licensing procedure for 2020–21 season was complete. For the 2021–22 Prva HNL, eleven clubs were issued a top level license: Cibalia, Dinamo Zagreb, Gorica, Hajduk Split, Hrvatski Dragovoljac, Istra 1961, Lokomotiva, Osijek, Rijeka, Slaven Belupo and Varaždin. All of these clubs except Cibalia and Hrvatski Dragovoljac were also issued a license for participating in UEFA competitions.[2]
Hrvatski Dragovoljac (promoted after a seven-year absence) was promoted from the 2020–21 Druga HNL. Varaždin (relegated after two years in the top flight) was relegated to 2021–22 Druga HNL.
| Dinamo Zagreb | Gorica | Hajduk Split | Hrvatski Dragovoljac | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stadion Maksimir | Gradski stadion Velika Gorica | Stadion Kranjčevićeva | ||
| Capacity: 35,123 | Capacity: 5,000 | Capacity: 34,198 | Capacity: 5,350 | |
| Istra 1961 | < | --CLUBS--> | Lokomotiva | |
| Stadion Aldo Drosina | Stadion Kranjčevićeva | |||
| Capacity: 10,000 | Capacity: 5,350 | |||
| Osijek | Rijeka | Slaven Belupo | Šibenik | |
| Stadion Gradski vrt | Stadion Rujevica | Stadion Šubićevac | ||
| Capacity: 17,061 | Capacity: 8,279 | Capacity: 3,205 | Capacity: 3,412 | |
| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35,123 | [3] | |||
| 5,000 | [4] | |||
| 34,198 | [5] | |||
| Zagreb | Kranjčevićeva1 | 5,350 | [6] | |
| 10,000 | [7] | |||
| Zagreb | Kranjčevićeva2 | 5,350 | ||
| 17,061 | [8] | |||
| 8,279 | [9] | |||
| 3,205 | [10] | |||
| 3,412 | [11] | |||
| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Sponsors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Adidas | PSK | ||
| Alpas | Admiral Bet | |||
 | Macron | Tommy | ||
| Hrvatski Dragovoljac | Macron | — | ||
| Istra 1961 |  Gonzalo García | Kelme | Croatia Osiguranje | |
| Silvijo Čabraja | Adidas | — | ||
| 2Rule | Mészáros és Mészáros Kft. | |||
| Joma | Sava Osiguranje | |||
| Adidas | Belupo | |||
| Šibenik | Mario Ćurić | Macron | — | |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Šibenik | [12] | [13] | Pre-season | ||||
| Gorica | [14] | Sacked | [15] | Pre-season | |||
| Hajduk Split |  [16] | Mutual consent |  [17] | Pre-season | |||
| Lokomotiva | [18] | Contract expired | [19] | Pre-season | |||
| Slaven Belupo | [20] | Sacked | [21] | Pre-season | |||
| Istra 1961 | Contract expired | [22] | Pre-season | ||||
| Hrvatski Dragovoljac | [23] | Sacked | 10th | ||||
| Slaven Belupo | [24] | Sacked | [25] | 8th | |||
| Hajduk Split | [26] | Sacked | [27] | 4th | |||
| Dinamo Zagreb | Resigned | 3rd | |||||
| Šibenik | | Sacked | 7th | ||||
| Hrvatski Dragovoljac | Sacked | 10th | |||||
| Šibenik | Sacked | (caretaker) | 7th | ||||
| Gorica | Sacked | 7th | |||||
| Šibenik | (caretaker) | Removed from position | (caretaker) | 8th | |||
| Šibenik | (caretaker) | Signing of Računica | 8th | ||||
| Dinamo Zagreb | Sacked | 1st |
Each team plays home-and-away against every other team in the league twice, for a total of 36 matches each played.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marko Livaja | Hajduk Split | 28 |
| 2 | Josip Drmić | Rijeka | 21 |
| 3 | Dion Drena Beljo | Istra 1961 | 15 |
| 4 | Dinamo Zagreb | 14 | |
| 5 | Marko Dabro | Lokomotiva | 13 |
| 6 | Robert Murić | Rijeka | 11 |
| 7 | Šibenik | 10 | |
| Slaven Belupo | |||
| Lokomotiva | |||
 Haris Vučkić | Rijeka | ||
| Ivan Delić | Šibenik | ||
| Award[29] | Winner | Club | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player of the Season | Marko Livaja | Hajduk Split | |
| Manager of the Season | Goran Tomić | Rijeka | |
| Young Player of the Season | Lukas Kačavenda | Lokomotiva |
| Team of the Year[30] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Dominik Livaković (Dinamo Zagreb) | |||||
| Defence | Stefan Ristovski (Dinamo Zagreb) | Josip Elez (Hajduk Split) | Josip Šutalo (Dinamo Zagreb) | |||
| Midfield | Petar Bočkaj (Dinamo Zagreb) | Filip Krovinović (Hajduk Split) | Domagoj Pavičić (Rijeka) | Arijan Ademi (Dinamo Zagreb) | Mislav Oršić (Dinamo Zagreb) | |
| Attack |  Josip Drmić (Rijeka) | Marko Livaja | ||||