Football in Croatia


Football in Croatia, called nogomet, is the most popular sport in the country and is led by the Croatian Football Federation. It is played in four official components; the domestic league consists of three hierarchical echelons, and a single national team represents the entire state.
The first Croat clubs were founded prior to the First World War and participated in the Yugoslavian league structure after Croatia became a part of Yugoslavia following the war. From 1940 to 1944, nineteen friendly matches were played by a Croatia national side representing the Second World War-era puppet states of the Banovina of Croatia and Independent State of Croatia. After the war, most of the prominent Yugoslavian clubs, including clubs in Croatia, were dissolved and replaced with new sides by Marshal Tito's Communist regime.
Today, club football in Croatia is dominated by Hajduk Split, HNK Rijeka and Dinamo Zagreb. Since independence, the country has produced a string of players who have performed well in many of Europe's most highly regarded leagues and who took the national team to third place at the 1998 World Cup and the final at the 2018 World Cup.

Format

The governing body of football in Croatia is the Croatian Football Federation. It oversees the organization of:
Note: the aforementioned competitions are for men if not stated differently. Women's football exists but is much less developed or popular.

Teams

By far the most popular clubs in the country are Dinamo, Hajduk and Rijeka.

Seasons

The following articles detail major results and events in each footballing season since the early 1990s, when the Croatian First Football League was established. Each article provides final league standings for that season, as well as details on cup results, Croatia national football team results, and a summary of any other important events during the season.
1990s1990–911991–921992–931993–941994–951995–961996–971997–981998–991999–2000
2000s2000–012001–022002–032003–042004–052005–062006–072007–082008–092009–10
2010s2010–112011–122012–132013–142014–152015–162016–172017–182018–192019–20

History

The earliest record of football in Croatia dates from 1873, when English construction workers played the game in Rijeka. The first known football match involving local population was played in 1880 in Županja, between English workers of The Oak Extract Company and local youths. The sport was further popularized in Croatia by Franjo Bučar in the 1890s. Its Croatian name, nogomet, was coined by the linguist Slavko Rutzner Radmilović in 1893 or 1894. The name was accepted into Slovenian as well.
The earliest clubs were founded before World War I – HAŠK and PNIŠK in 1903, Hajduk and Građanski in 1911, etc. However, first Croatian football club Bačka from Subotica was founded in 1901 in the Kingdom of Hungary. In Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian club Zrinjski Mostar is the oldest in the country and it was founded in 1905. The Croatian Football Federation was founded in 1912.
After World War I, the Croatians played a major part in the founding of the first football federation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later named the Football Association of Yugoslavia, and its headquarters were initially in Zagreb before they were moved to Belgrade in 1929. During this time, the talented Ico Hitrec played football. In 1927, Hajduk Split took part in the inaugural Mitropa Cup for Central European clubs.
Croatia had its first international football match on April 2, 1940 against Switzerland. During World War II, the Croatian Football Federation joined FIFA as a representative of the Independent State of Croatia, but this was contentious and short-lived as was the fascist puppet-state.
After the war, football was resumed in the second Yugoslavia. The communist regime in the new state quickly moved to ban all clubs who had either participated in the Croatian championship or bore Croatian national names. Many clubs were said to have links to the Ustaše. Victims of this disbanding included top-sides Concordia, HAŠK and Građanski, as well as the major Croatian clubs in today's Bosnia and Herzegovina SAŠK and HŠK Zrinjski Mostar. The largest club to avoid disbanding was Hajduk Split who had refused to participate in the Croatian competition.
At this point several other major clubs were founded – today's GNK Dinamo Zagreb, HNK Rijeka and NK Osijek, to name a few. Most clubs had to maintain loyalty to the regime, and it was common for clubs to have a communist red star as part of their emblem.
Over the following decades, the Croatian clubs performed well in the Yugoslav First League and the Yugoslav Cup. Hajduk and Dinamo formed one half of the Big Four of Yugoslav football. In 1967, Zlatko Čajkovski of German club Bayern Munich became the only Croatian manager to win the European Cup Winners' Cup.
After Croatia gained independence in the 1990s, the football federation was reconstituted and joined the international associations. The Croatian internationals from the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship-winning team went on to achieve more success, spawning the Golden Generation who won third place at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Since then, Croatia has continued to produce top players. At the more recent Euro 2008, they famously beat 2006 FIFA World Cup bronze medalists Germany 2–1 in a shock win but exited the tournament courtesy of a penalty shoot-out against Turkey in the quarterfinals.

Clubs in European competitions

The table below lists Croatian clubs' best results in elimination rounds of European club competitions:
CompetitionSeasonRoundTeam 1Agg.Team 21st leg2nd leg
UCWC1960–61SFFiorentina 4–2 Dinamo Zagreb3–01–2
UCWC1972–73SFLeeds United 1–0 Hajduk Split1–00–0
EC1975–76QFHajduk Split 2–3 PSV Eindhoven2–00–3
EC1979–80QFHamburger SV 3–3 Hajduk Split1–02–3
UC1983–84SFHajduk Split 2–2 Tottenham Hotspur2–10–1
UCL1994–95QFHajduk Split 0–3 Ajax0–00–3
UC1997–98R16Croatia Zagreb 1–2 Atlético Madrid1–10–1
EL2018–19R16Dinamo Zagreb 1–3 Benfica1–00–3
UCWC1998–99QFVarteks 1–3 Mallorca0–01–3

Footballers in international club competitions

The following table lists all Croatian players that have won internacional final. It does not include Croatians who were considered Yugoslav players prior to Croatia's independence in 1991.
As of 2019 a total of ten Croatian players are credited as winning the Champions League: Alen Bokšić, Zvonimir Boban, Davor Šuker, Dario Šimić, Igor Bišćan, Mario Mandžukić, Luka Modrić, Ivan Rakitić, Mateo Kovačić and Dejan Lovren, although Šimić, Bišćan, Kovačić and Lovren did not appear in the finals.
In terms of appearances, twelve players have played in the final, but only five players appeared more than once – Bokšić, Boban, Olić, Mandžukić and Modrić. Two Croatian players have scored a goal in the final match, Mandžukić in the 2013 and 2017 final, and Rakitić in the 2015 final.
A total of 14 players were members of a club that lost a final: Boban, Olić, Pranjić, Bokšić, Vlaović, Živković, Vranješ, Babić, Tudor, Pršo, Šimić, Mandžukić, Pjaca and Lovren.
As of 2019 a total of seven Croatian players are credited as winning the Europa League: Mario Stanić, Ivica Olić, Ivica Križanac, Darijo Srna, Ivan Rakitić, Šime Vrsaljko and Mateo Kovačić – although Stanić did not appear for his club in the final. The only Croatian player to have scored a goal in the final match was Nikola Kalinić in the 2015 final.
A total of 7 players were members of a club that lost a final: Damir Mužek, Jurčević, Jarni, Šuker, Vranješ, Kalinić and Lovren.
RankingNameTeamYearsCLELSCFCWCCWCICTotal
1Luka Modrić Real Madrid2014–201840330010
2Mateo Kovačić Real Madrid
Chelsea		2016–20193122008
3Dario Šimić Milan2003–20072011004
4Ivan Rakitić Sevilla
Barcelona		2014–20151111004
5Alen Bokšić Marseille
Juventus
Lazio		1993–19991000113
6Mario Mandžukić Bayern20131011003
7Zvonimir Boban Milan19941010002
8Davor Šuker Real Madrid19981000012
9Igor Bišćan Liverpool2001–20051010002
10Ivica Križanac FC Zenit Saint Petersburg20080110002
11Robert Jarni Real Madrid19980000011
12Mario Stanić Parma19990100001
13Niko Kovač Bayern20010000011
14Robert Kovač Bayern20010000011
15Ivica Olić CSKA Moscow20050100001
16Darijo Srna Shakhtar20090100001
17Šime Vrsaljko Atlético Madrid20180100001
18Nikola Kalinić Atlético Madrid20180010001
19Dejan Lovren Liverpool20191000001

Futsal

, called mali nogomet in Croatia, is also widely played and is sometimes considered as a mini football league. It is often taught in schools and also played by football professionals as a pastime.
The Croatian First League of Futsal is the top-tier futsal competition.

Fans

The Croatian football fans organize in various fan groups such as the Torcida, Bad Blue Boys, Armada, Kohorta, etc.
On the international games, the Croatian fans usually wear the checkerboard colors red and white, as they are on the Croatian coat of arms.