Below is a list of the head coaches of Croatia national football team, their statistics and achievements in the national team. The Croatian Football Federation considers the date of its foundation to be 1912,[1] when the country itself was still part of Austria-Hungary. In 1919, all sports federations in Croatia came under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.[2] [3] On 6 August 1939, the HNS regained its independence. On 17 July 1941, FIFA recognized the HNS as the national association of the Independent State of Croatia and considered it a member until the formation of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1945.[4] [5] Croatian football players from 1945 to 1990 played for Yugoslavia national team.
The first head coach of the Croatian team was Hugo Kienert, who only formally held this position in 1918–1919, since in those days it was not possible to convene the national team. On the eve and during the World War II, the Croats held a number of friendly meetings, in which it was headed by local experts: Jozo Jakopić, Rudolf Hitrec, Bogdan Cuvaj and Bernard Hügl.[6] During the period of existence of socialist Yugoslavia (from 1945 to 1991), Croatia played only one friendly match in 1956. In this match with the Indonesian national team, it was led by a triumvirate of coaches (Bruno Knežević, Leo Lemešić and Franjo Wölfl). During the period of independence in the early 1990s, the Croatian national team played friendly matches in which Dražan Jerković, Stanko Poklepović and Vlatko Marković were its head coaches.
In 1994, the national team was headed by Miroslav Blažević. It was under his leadership that the Croatian national team achieved its first and impressive success. First, he managed to qualify for the 1996 European Championship,[7] unexpectedly ahead of the Italians, and to leave the group at the championship itself. Under the leadership of Blažević, the Croats created the loudest sensation at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, where they win bronze medal.[8]
In the 2000s and the first half of the 2010s, Croats, led by such specialists as Mirko Jozić, Otto Barić, Zlatko Kranjčar, Slaven Bilić, Igor Štimac, Niko Kovač and Ante Čačić, regularly made their way to the final stages of world and continental championships, where occupied either third places in their groups, or stopped at the first stages of the playoffs.
The current head coach of the national team since 7 October 2017 is Zlatko Dalić.[9] He temporarily led the team, which had decisive matches in the selection for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Having brought his national team to the final part of the tournament, Dalić signed a permanent contract with the HNS. At the World Cup itself, the Croats made a loud sensation, reaching the final match,[10] [11] where they lost against France team with a score of 2–4.[12] Four years later, under the leadership of the same coach, they took the bronze medals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup,[13] in the quarterfinals of which they sensationally defeated Brazil.[14] [15]
The following table provides a summary of the complete record of each Croatia manager's results in the FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championship and UEFA Nations League Finals.
| Coach | First match | Last match | Tournaments | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [16] | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 50.00% | rowspan=8 | ||||
| [17] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00% | |||||
| [18] | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 46.15% | |||||
| [19] | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | |||||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | ||||||
| [20] | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | |||||
| [21] | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 25.00% | |||||
| [22] | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | |||||
| [23] | 73 | 34 | 24 | 15 | 46.57% | 1996 European Championship – Quarter-finals 1998 World Cup – Third place 2000 European Championship – Failed to qualify | ||||
| [24] | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | |||||
| [25] | 18 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 50.00% | 2002 World Cup – Group stage | ||||
| [26] | 24 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 45.83% | 2004 European Championship – Group stage | ||||
| [27] | 25 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 44.00% | 2006 World Cup – Group stage | ||||
| [28] | 65 | 42 | 15 | 8 | 64.61% | 2008 European Championship – Quarter-finals 2010 World Cup – Failed to qualify 2012 European Championship – Group stage | ||||
| [29] | 15 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 53.33% | |||||
| [30] | 19 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 52.63% | 2014 World Cup – Group stage | ||||
| [31] | 25 | 15 | 6 | 4 | 60.00% | 2016 European Championship – Round of 16 | ||||
| [32] | 87 | 43 | 23 | 21 | 49.43% | 2018 World Cup – Runners-up 2020 European Championship – Round of 16 2022 World Cup – Third place 2024 European Championship – Group stage | ||||
| Total | 376 | 196 | 101 | 79 | 12 out of 14 | |||||