Croatia national under-23 football team explained

Croatia U23
Nickname:Croatian: Mladi [[Croatian national football team|Vatreni]] (The Young Blazers)
Badge:Croatian Olympic Committee logo.svg
Badge Size:220px
Association:Croatian Football Federation (HNS)
Confederation:UEFA (Europe)
Coach:Ognjen Vukojević
Captain:Tonio Teklić
Most Caps:Željko Pavlović (5)Dražen Madunović (5)Mario Stanić (5)Josip Gašpar (5)Danijel Štefulj (5)
Top Scorer:Igor Cvitanović (2)
Fifa Trigramme:CRO
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First Game: 1–1
(Varaždin, Croatia; 17 March 1993)
Largest Win: 0–3
(Wiener Neustadt, Austria; 20 September 2022)
Largest Loss: 0–2
(Alès, France; 17 June 1993)

The Croatia national under-23 football team represents Croatia in international men's football matches for players aged 23 or under. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Croatia. It is a member of UEFA in Europe and FIFA in global competitions. The team's colours reference two national symbols: the Croatian checkerboard and the country's tricolour. Although the team never competed at the Olympics, the team is sometimes referred to as the Croatia Olympic football team (Croatian: Hrvatska olimpijska nogometna reprezentacija).

The team was formed for the 1993 Mediterranean Games held in France. Prior to the tournament, Croatia played two preparational friendlies against Slovenia, both ending in a 1–1 draw. These were the first matches ever played by the Croatian team. At the tournament itself, Croatia finished last in its four-teams-group, losing two, and drawing one match. In 1996 the team played a friendly against Brazil as Brazil's preparation match for the upcoming 1996 Olympics, drawing 1–1. During the 1997 Mediterranean Games held in Italy, the team again finished last in its three-teams-group, losing both matches. In 1998, it won a friendly against Romania with a 0–1 score and in 2013 it lost a friendly against the Netherlands. The team didn't play any matches from 2013 until 2022 when it met the Qatari senior team as part of their pre-2022 FIFA World Cup preparation in a friendly in Austria, winning 3–0.

Since Croatia U21 never managed to secure Croatia's participation at the Olympics through UEFA EURO U21 Championship, which serves as a qualifying system, Croatia U23 has never participated at the Olympics.

History

Croatia's national under-23 football team was formed for the occasion of the 1993 Mediterranean Games, held in June 1993 in France. The team was led by Vlatko Marković. Its first matches, the two friendlies against Slovenia, were played as a preparation for the Mediterranean Games. The two teams first met on 17 March 1993 in Zaprešić, Croatia, and the second time on 12 May 1993 in Maribor, Slovenia, with both matches ending in a 1–1 draw. At the tournament itself, Croatia was in the group with Tunisia, Turkey, and France. It played its first match against Tunisia, losing 0–2. Its second match against Turkey also ended in defeat, with a score of 2–3. A 3–3 draw against France was their last match in the tournament. Croatia finished last among ten teams, while Turkey won the tournament. The 1993 Mediterranean Games were at the same time the first Croatian encounter with international competitive football after its independence. The coach Marković was disappointed with the performance, blaming the "celebrities" within the team, commenting that "the first encounter with the world football shows us how low we have fallen, we're at the tail of all modern football events".

Croatia's U23 team went on to play against Brazil's U23 team in a friendly which ended in a 1–1 draw. Croatia was led by Martin Novoselac. At the time Brazil held the champions title of the 1994 FIFA World Cup and was preparing for the 1996 Olympics in the United States.

Under the leadership of Ivo Šušak, the Croatian U23 team competed at the 1997 Mediterranean Games, being in the group with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Spain. It lost both matches, with scores 0–1 against Bosnia and Herzegovina and 1–2 against Spain, finishing last in its group. Italy won the tournament, while Croatia finished 10th among 13 teams. The football tournament at the next Mediterranean Games was limited to players aged 21 or younger, with Croatia not participating in future Mediterranean football tournaments.

In 1998, in Bucharest, Croatia played a friendly against Romania, which at the time had one of the best young football teams. Croatia won the match with a 0–1 score. Fifteen years later, in 2013, Croatia played against the Netherlands in Pula, with Croatia losing 2–3.

The team was formed again in September 2022 to replace Bolivia senior team for a friendly match against Qatar senior team, after Bolivia cancelled the match. The Croatian team was led by Robert Jarni who also led the Croatia U17 team. The match was played on 20 September 2022 in Wiener Neustadt in Austria as Qatar's preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup which they hosted. Croatia won 0–3. Qatar senior team played a return match against Croatia on 8 June 2023, in Vorau, with Croatia winning 0–1. The Croatian team was led by Ognjen Vukojević.

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

Players

Last squad

The following players were named in the squad for a friendly against Qatar A on 8 June 2023.

Competitive record

Champions  
Runners-up  
Third place  
Fourth place  
Tournament played fully or partially on home soil  

Olympic Games

recordwidth=1% rowspan="34" style="background:#FFFFFF; color:white"Qualifications record
YearRoundPositionGPSquad
1896colspan=8 rowspan=21
1900
1904
1908
1912
1920colspan=9 rowspan=4
1924
1928
1936
1948colspan=9 rowspan=11
1952
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992colspan=9 rowspan=1
1996UEFA European Under-21 Championship 1996
20002000
20042004
20082008
20122012
20162016
20202020
20242024
20282028
20322032
Total 0/29
Matches
First match
Biggest win
Biggest defeat

Mediterranean Games

Since Croatia's independence, Croatia's U23 football team participated in two Mediterranean Games: 1993 and 1997. The next 2001 Mediterranean Games were limited to U21 teams, while the 2005 Mediterranean Games were set for the U23 teams, even though none of the players who participated were older than 21. The 2009 Mediterranean Games were limited to U20 teams, while the 2013 Games pushed the limit to U19 teams. Since 2018, the Mediterranean Games have invited U18, U19 and U21 teams, though, only U18 teams participated ever since. No Croatian team participated in the Mediterranean Games after 1997.

record
YearRoundPositionGPSquad
1951colspan=9 rowspan=11
1955
1959
1963
1967
1971
1975
1979
1983
1987
1991
1993Group stage 10/10 3 0 1 2 5 8 1993
1997Group stage 10/13 2 0 0 2 1 3 1997
TotalGroup stage2/135014611Total
Matches
First match 0–2
(Alès, France; 17 June 1993)
Biggest win
Biggest defeat 0–2
(Alès, France; 21 June 1993)

Statistics

Managers

The following table provides a summary of the complete record of each Croatia manager's results.

Key: Pld–games played, W–games won, D–games drawn; L–games lost, %–win percentage

ManagerTenurePldWDLWin %Tournaments
1993 1993 Mediterranean Games – Group stage
1996
1997–2013 1997 Mediterranean Games – Group stage
2022
2023
Last updated: Qatar A vs Croatia, 8 June 2023.

Most capped players

width=30pxRankPlayerwidth=50pxCapswidth=50pxGoalsCareer
1Željko Pavlović501993
Dražen Madunović01993
Mario Stanić11993
Josip Gašpar11993
Danijel Štefulj01993–1996
2Zoran Ban401993
Goran Vlaović11993
Ivica Mornar01993
Ivan Jurić01996–1998
Mario Cvitanović01996–1998

Top goalscorers

width=30pxRankPlayerwidth=50pxGoalswidth=50pxCapswidth=50pxRatioCareer
1Igor Cvitanović231993
2Andrej Kramarić112013
Ivan Boras12013
Josip Mitrović12022
Igor Matanović12023
Milan Rapaić21993–1996
Davor Vugrinec21996–1998
Mario Bazina21997
Tonio Teklić22022–2023
Sandro Kulenović22022–2023
Goran Vučević31993
Goran Vlaović41993
Josip Gašpar51993
Mario Stanić51993

Most clean sheets

width=30pxRankPlayerwidth=50pxClean sheetswidth=50pxCapswidth=50pxRatioCareer
1Nediljko Labrović112022
Karlo Sentić12022
Lovro Majkić12023
Dinko Horkaš12023
Vladimir Vasilj31997–1998

Record per opponent

Key

See also

References