Croatia at the FIFA World Cup - wikipedia Croatia at the FIFA World Cup Croatia - Iceland match at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia Croatia national football team have appeared in the FIFA World Cup on five occasions ( in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2014 and 2018 ) since gaining independence in 1991. Before that, from 1930 to 1990 Croatia was part of Yugoslavia. Their best result thus far was silver position at the 2018 final, where they lost 4 - 2 to France. Contents 1 Overview 2 Croatia in France 1998 2.1 Squad 2.2 Round of 16 2.3 Quarter - finals 2.4 Semi-finals 2.5 Third - place match 2.6 Legacy 3 Croatia in Korea / Japan 2002 3.1 Squad 4 Croatia in Germany 2006 4.1 Squad 5 Croatia in Brazil 2014 5.1 Squad 6 Croatia in Russia 2018 6.1 Squad 6.2 Round of 16 6.3 Quarter - finals 6.4 Semi-finals 6.5 Final 7 List of matches 8 Players with most appearances 9 Goalscorers 10 Awards 11 Squads 12 See also 13 References Overview Year Round Position GP D * GS GA 1930 to 1938 as part of Kingdom of Yugoslavia 1950 to 1990 as part of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Did not enter 1998 Third place 3rd 7 5 0 11 5 2002 Group stage 23rd 0 2006 Group stage 22nd 0 Did not qualify 2014 Group stage 19th 0 6 6 2018 Runners - up 2nd 7 14 9 2022 To be determined 2026 Total 23 11 8 35 26 * Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks show Croatia 's World Cup record First Match Croatia 3 -- 1 Jamaica ( 14 June 1998 ; Lens, France ) Biggest Win Croatia 4 -- 0 Cameroon ( 18 June 2014 ; Manaus, Brazil ) Biggest Defeat Brazil 3 -- 1 Croatia ( 12 June 2014 ; São Paulo, Brazil ) Mexico 3 -- 1 Croatia ( 23 June 2014 ; Recife, Brazil ) France 4 -- 2 Croatia ( 15 July 2018 ; Moscow, Russia ) Best Result Runners - up in 2018 Worst Result Group Stage in 2002, 2006 and 2014 Croatia in France 1998 Main article : Croatia at the 1998 FIFA World Cup In the draw for the final tournament, held on 4 December 1997 at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, Croatia was drawn to play in Group H, along with two other teams which qualified for the World Cup for the first time, Jamaica and Japan, and two - time World Cup winners Argentina. In their first match Croatia beat Jamaica 3 -- 1, in a game memorable for Croatia 's first ever World Cup goal, an opener scored by Mario Stanić in the 27th minute. Croatia went on to beat Japan 1 -- 0 before losing their third group stage match against Argentina 0 -- 1, in a game which was of little importance as both teams had already qualified for round of 16. In round of 16, Croatia faced Group G winners Romania ( who had finished top of their group in front of England ) and won the game through a penalty converted by Davor Šuker in stoppage time of the first half after a foul on Aljoša Asanović by Gabriel Popescu. After that Croatia faced Germany in the quarter - finals, in a game which was at the time touted by the Croatian media as a great opportunity to get back at Germany as it was them who had knocked out Croatia in the UEFA Euro 1996 quarter - finals two years earlier. In the 40th minute Christian Wörns received a direct red card and was sent off for fouling Davor Šuker, and Robert Jarni opened the scoring eight minutes later in stoppage time of the first half. Goran Vlaović and Davor Šuker added a second and third and the game ended in a 3 -- 0 win, which is still regarded by fans and the media as one of the most memorable matches Croatia ever played. Croatia went on to face hosts France in the semi-finals, but lost the game 1 -- 2 when an opener scored by Šuker in the 46th minute was immediately equalised by Lilian Thuram the following minute. Thuram also scored France 's second goal in the 69th minute. These were the only two goals Thuram ever scored for France in an international career spanning from 1994 to 2008 which saw him earn a total of 147 caps. After Croatia 's exit manager Blažević was heavily criticized by Croatian press for not sending in Robert Prosinečki soon enough after France took the lead ( Prosinečki came on as a substitute for Mario Stanić just minutes before the final whistle ). Croatia captain Zvonimir Boban tried to take the blame for the defeat saying that he felt he needed to be substituted but wanted to stay on the pitch just a little while longer ( it was his defending mistake which led to Thuram 's equaliser ). After being knocked out in the semi-finals, Croatia looked for consolation against Netherlands in the third place match played just three days later at Parc des Princes. Croatia went on to win 2 -- 1 through goals by Šuker and Prosinečki, but after the final whistle Dražen Ladić was labelled player of the match, for a career - best performance which saw him save numerous shots from Patrick Kluivert, Clarence Seedorf and Marc Overmars. Squad Main article : 1998 FIFA World Cup squads Manager Miroslav Blažević included the following 22 players in the finals tournament squad. The 16 players who were capped at least once in one of the seven matches Croatia played in France are highlighted in bold. The remaining six players were unused at the tournament ( defenders Goran Jurić and Anthony Šerić, defensive midfielder Mamić, striker Ardian Kozniku, and second and third - choice goalkeepers Marijan Mrmić and Vladimir Vasilj ). On the other hand, six players appeared in all seven matches : goalkeeper Dražen Ladić, defender Slaven Bilić, midfielders Aljoša Asanović, Mario Stanić, Robert Jarni, and striker Davor Šuker. Out of 11 goals scored by Croatia at the tournament, six were scored by Davor Šuker, who was awarded the Golden Shoe Award for the top goalscorer of the tournament, as well as the Silver Ball Award as the second most outstanding player of the tournament ( behind Ronaldo of Brazil ). Robert Prosinečki ( who was retroactivelly given the 1990 FIFA World Cup Best Young Player Award, where he had appeared for Yugoslavia ), also scored two goals in matches against Jamaica and the Netherlands, which made him the only player in World Cup history to score goals at finals tournaments for two different countries. For three players ( Jarni, Prosinečki and Šuker ) this was their second appearance at the World Cup, having been members of Yugoslavia squad at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. Alen Bokšić would have been fourth, having been a key player in Croatia 's qualifying campaign, but he was dropped from the tournament squad after sustaining an injury just months before the tournament in France. Aljoša Asanović Slaven Bilić Zvonimir Boban ( c ) Robert Jarni Krunoslav Jurčić Goran Jurić Ardian Kozniku Petar Krpan Dražen Ladić Zoran Mamić Silvio Marić Marijan Mrmić Robert Prosinečki Zvonimir Soldo Mario Stanić Anthony Šerić Dario Šimić Igor Štimac Davor Šuker Igor Tudor Vladimir Vasilj Goran Vlaović Head coach : Miroslav Blažević Main article : 1998 FIFA World Cup Group H Pos Team Pld GF GA GD Pts Qualification Argentina 0 0 7 0 + 7 9 Advance to knockout stage Croatia 0 + 2 6 Jamaica 0 9 − 6 Japan 0 0 − 3 0 Source : FIFA 14 June 1998 21 : 00 Jamaica 1 -- 3 Croatia Earle 45 ' Report Stanić 27 ' Prosinečki 53 ' Šuker 69 ' Stade Félix - Bollaert, Lens Attendance : 38,100 Referee : Vítor Melo Pereira ( Portugal ) 20 June 1998 14 : 30 Japan 0 -- 1 Croatia Report Šuker 77 ' Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes Attendance : 35,500 Referee : Ramesh Ramdhan ( Trinidad and Tobago ) 26 June 1998 16 : 00 Argentina 1 -- 0 Croatia Pineda 36 ' Report Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Attendance : 31,800 Referee : Said Belqola ( Morocco ) Round of 16 30 June 1998 16 : 30 Romania 0 -- 1 Croatia Report Šuker 45 + 2 ' ( pen. ) Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Attendance : 31,800 Referee : Javier Castrilli ( Argentina ) Quarter - finals 4 July 1998 21 : 00 Germany 0 -- 3 Croatia Report Jarni 45 + 3 ' Vlaović 80 ' Šuker 85 ' Stade de Gerland, Lyon Attendance : 39,100 Referee : Rune Pedersen ( Norway ) Semi-finals 8 July 1998 21 : 00 France 2 -- 1 Croatia Thuram 47 ', 70 ' Report Šuker 46 ' Stade de France, Saint - Denis Attendance : 76,000 Referee : José María García - Aranda ( Spain ) Third - place match 11 July 1998 21 : 00 Netherlands 1 -- 2 Croatia Zenden 22 ' Report Prosinečki 14 ' Šuker 36 ' Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance : 45,500 Referee : Epifanio González ( Paraguay ) Legacy Ladić Štimac Šimić Bilić Soldo Stanić Jarni Boban ( c ) Asanović Vlaović Šuker Croatia 's 3 - 5 - 2 lineup in the 1998 World Cup By beating Netherlands, Croatia finished third in their World Cup debut, a feat matched only by Eusébio 's Portugal in the 1966 World Cup 32 years earlier. Consequently, Croatia reached their highest ever FIFA ranking when they were third in the world for three months between January and March 1999 and were given the Best Mover of the Year Award in 1998, the only team so far which won the award twice ( having been Best Movers in 1994 ). Upon returning to Croatia, the whole squad was decorated by President Franjo Tuđman, and were nicknamed `` Brončani '' ( `` The Bronze Ones '' ) and `` Vatreni ' '' ( `` The Fiery Ones '' ) in the media. The latter stuck as a permanent nickname for the national team. Most players continued playing for the team throughout the UEFA Euro 2000 qualifiers, but after Croatia failed to qualify manager Miroslav Blažević resigned and soon after that some of the players retired from the national team. The next manager Mirko Jozić kept some of the remaining members of the Bronze Generation and even took them to 2002 FIFA World Cup ( such as Šuker, Prosinečki, Jarni, Stanić, Soldo, Vlaović, Šimić ), but they failed to make an impact at the tournament and almost all of them retired soon afterwards, but a number of them later became prominent figures in Croatian football. Zvonimir Boban went into sports publishing and took over as CEO of Croatia 's sports daily Sportske novosti in 2005 and worked as a commentator for Italian television stations. Šuker launched his line of sports apparel and established a football academy carrying his name. Zvonimir Soldo, Robert Jarni, Slaven Bilić, Igor Štimac and Dražen Ladić all took up managing jobs ( Soldo coached Dinamo Zagreb to a Double in 2008, while Jarni, Bilić and Štimac all had managerial spells at Hajduk Split ). Štimac later became chairman of the association of Prva HNL clubs, the body regulating top flight football in Croatia, and Bilić took over as Croatia manager in 2006, hiring Aljoša Asanović, Robert Prosinečki and Marijan Mrmić as his assistants. Dražen Ladić took up managing the Croatia under - 21 team in 2006, and Krunoslav Jurčić is the current manager at Dinamo Zagreb, having been appointed in 2009. Miroslav Blažević later managed a number of clubs in Croatia, Slovenia and Switzerland before taking over as Bosnia and Herzegovina manager in 2008 and sensationally leading them to the verge of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. Croatia in Korea / Japan 2002 Squad Main article : 2002 FIFA World Cup squads Pletikosa Kovač Tomas Šimunić Soldo Šarić Jarni ( c ) Kovač Rapaić Bokšić Olić Croatia 's 3 -- 4 -- 1 - 2 lineup at the 2002 World Cup Boško Balaban Alen Bokšić Tomislav Butina Robert Jarni ( c ) Niko Kovač Robert Kovač Ivica Olić Stipe Pletikosa Robert Prosinečki Milan Rapaić Zvonimir Soldo Mario Stanić Daniel Šarić Anthony Šerić Dario Šimić Josip Šimunić Davor Šuker Stjepan Tomas Vladimir Vasilj Goran Vlaović Jurica Vranješ Davor Vugrinec Boris Živković Head coach : Mirko Jozić Main article : 2002 FIFA World Cup Group G Pos Team Pld GF GA GD Pts Qualification Mexico 0 + 2 7 Advance to knockout stage Italy + 1 Croatia 0 − 1 Ecuador 0 − 2 Source : FIFA Rules for classification : Tie - breaking criteria 3 June 2002 15 : 30 Croatia 0 -- 1 Mexico Report Blanco 60 ' ( pen. ) Niigata Big Swan Stadium, Niigata Attendance : 32,239 Referee : Lu Jun ( China PR ) 8 June 2002 18 : 00 Italy 1 -- 2 Croatia Vieri 55 ' Report Olić 73 ' Rapaić 76 ' Kashima Soccer Stadium, Ibaraki Attendance : 36,472 Referee : Graham Poll ( England ) 13 June 2002 20 : 30 Ecuador 1 -- 0 Croatia Méndez 48 ' Report International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama Attendance : 65,862 Referee : William Mattus ( Costa Rica ) Croatia in Germany 2006 Main article : Croatia at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Squad Main article : 2006 FIFA World Cup squads Pletikosa Kovač Šimić Šimunić Tudor Kovač ( c ) Srna Babić Kranjčar Klasnić Pršo Croatia 's 3 -- 4 -- 1 -- 2 lineup at the 2006 World Cup Marko Babić Boško Balaban Ivan Bošnjak Tomislav Butina Joey Didulica Ivan Klasnić Niko Kovač ( c ) Robert Kovač Niko Kranjčar Ivan Leko Jerko Leko Luka Modrić Ivica Olić Stipe Pletikosa Dado Pršo Darijo Srna Anthony Šerić Dario Šimić Josip Šimunić Mario Tokić Stjepan Tomas Igor Tudor Jurica Vranješ Head coach : Zlatko Kranjčar Main article : 2006 FIFA World Cup Group F Pos Team Pld GF GA GD Pts Qualification Brazil 0 0 7 + 6 9 Advance to knockout stage Australia 5 5 0 Croatia 0 − 1 Japan 0 7 − 5 Source : FIFA Rules for classification : Tie - breaking criteria 13 June 2006 21 : 00 Brazil 1 -- 0 Croatia Kaká 44 ' Report Olympiastadion, Berlin Attendance : 72,000 Referee : Benito Archundia ( Mexico ) 18 June 2006 15 : 00 Japan 0 -- 0 Croatia Report FIFA WM Stadion Nürnberg, Nuremberg Attendance : 41,000 Referee : Frank De Bleeckere ( Belgium ) 22 June 2006 21 : 00 Croatia 2 -- 2 Australia Srna 2 ' N. Kovač 56 ' Report Moore 38 ' ( pen. ) Kewell 79 ' Gottlieb - Daimler - Stadion, Stuttgart Attendance : 52,000 Referee : Graham Poll ( England ) Croatia in Brazil 2014 Main article : Croatia at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Squad Main article : 2014 FIFA World Cup squads Pletikosa Ćorluka Lovren Srna ( c ) Vrsaljko Rakitić Modrić Perišić Olić Kovačić Mandžukić Croatia 's 4 -- 2 -- 3 -- 1 lineup at the 2014 World Cup Milan Badelj Marcelo Brozović Vedran Ćorluka Eduardo da Silva Nikica Jelavić Mateo Kovačić Dejan Lovren Mario Mandžukić Luka Modrić Ivica Olić Ivan Perišić Stipe Pletikosa Danijel Pranjić Ivan Rakitić Ante Rebić Sammir Gordon Schildenfeld Darijo Srna ( c ) Danijel Subašić Domagoj Vida Šime Vrsaljko Ognjen Vukojević Oliver Zelenika Head coach : Niko Kovač Pos Team Pld GF GA GD Pts Qualification Brazil ( H ) 0 7 + 5 7 Advance to knockout stage Mexico 0 + 3 7 Croatia 0 6 6 0 Cameroon 0 0 9 − 8 0 Source : FIFA Rules for classification : Tie - breaking criteria ( H ) Host. Main article : 2014 FIFA World Cup Group A 12 June 2014 17 : 00 UTC − 3 Brazil 3 -- 1 Croatia Neymar 29 ', 71 ' ( pen. ) Oscar 90 + 1 ' Report Marcelo 11 ' ( o.g. ) Arena de São Paulo, São Paulo Attendance : 62,103 Referee : Yuichi Nishimura ( Japan ) 18 June 2014 18 : 00 UTC − 4 Cameroon 0 -- 4 Croatia Report Olić 11 ' Perišić 48 ' Mandžukić 61 ', 73 ' Arena da Amazônia, Manaus Attendance : 39,982 Referee : Pedro Proença ( Portugal ) 23 June 2014 17 : 00 UTC − 3 Croatia 1 -- 3 Mexico Perišić 87 ' Report Márquez 72 ' Guardado 75 ' Hernández 82 ' Itaipava Arena Pernambuco, Recife Attendance : 41,212 Referee : Ravshan Irmatov ( Uzbekistan ) Croatia in Russia 2018 Main article : Croatia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Squad Main article : 2018 FIFA World Cup squads Subašić Lovren Vida Vrsaljko Strinić Brozović Rakitić Modrić Rebić Perišić Mandžukić Croatia 's 4 -- 3 - 3 lineup at the 2018 World Cup Milan Badelj Filip Bradarić Marcelo Brozović Duje Ćaleta - Car Vedran Ćorluka Tin Jedvaj Lovre Kalinić Nikola Kalinić Mateo Kovačić Andrej Kramarić Dominik Livaković Dejan Lovren Mario Mandžukić Luka Modrić ( c ) Ivan Perišić Josip Pivarić Marko Pjaca Ivan Rakitić Ante Rebić Ivan Strinić Danijel Subašić Domagoj Vida Šime Vrsaljko Head coach : Zlatko Dalić Pos Team Pld GF GA GD Pts Qualification Croatia 0 0 7 + 6 9 Advance to knockout stage Argentina 5 − 2 Nigeria 0 − 1 Iceland 0 5 − 3 Source : FIFA Rules for classification : Group stage tiebreakers Main article : 2018 FIFA World Cup Group D 16 June 2018 ( 2018 - 06 - 16 ) 21 : 00 KALT ( UTC + 2 ) Croatia 2 -- 0 Nigeria Etebo 32 ' ( o.g. ) Modrić 71 ' ( pen. ) Report Kaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad Attendance : 31,136 Referee : Sandro Ricci ( Brazil ) 21 June 2018 ( 2018 - 06 - 21 ) 21 : 00 MSK ( UTC + 3 ) Argentina 0 -- 3 Croatia Report Rebić 53 ' Modrić 80 ' Rakitić 90 + 1 ' Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod Attendance : 43,319 Referee : Ravshan Irmatov ( Uzbekistan ) 26 June 2018 ( 2018 - 06 - 26 ) 21 : 00 MSK ( UTC + 3 ) Iceland 1 -- 2 Croatia G. Sigurðsson 76 ' ( pen. ) Report Badelj 53 ' Perišić 90 ' Rostov Arena, Rostov - on - Don Attendance : 43,472 Referee : Antonio Mateu Lahoz ( Spain ) Round of 16 1 July 2018 ( 2018 - 07 - 01 ) 21 : 00 MSK ( UTC + 3 ) Croatia 1 -- 1 ( a.e.t. ) Denmark Mandžukić 4 ' Report M. Jørgensen 1 ' Penalties Badelj Kramarić Modrić Pivarić Rakitić 3 -- 2 Eriksen Kjær Krohn - Dehli Schöne N. Jørgensen Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod Attendance : 40,851 Referee : Néstor Pitana ( Argentina ) Quarter - finals 7 July 2018 ( 2018 - 07 - 07 ) 21 : 00 MSK ( UTC + 3 ) Russia 2 -- 2 ( a.e.t. ) Croatia Cheryshev 31 ' Fernandes 115 ' Report Kramarić 39 ' Vida 101 ' Penalties Smolov Dzagoev Fernandes Ignashevich Kuzyayev 3 -- 4 Brozović Kovačić Modrić Vida Rakitić Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi Attendance : 44,287 Referee : Sandro Ricci ( Brazil ) Semi-finals 11 July 2018 ( 2018 - 07 - 11 ) 21 : 00 MSK ( UTC + 3 ) Croatia 2 -- 1 ( a.e.t. ) England Perišić 68 ' Mandžukić 109 ' Report Trippier 5 ' Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow Attendance : 78,011 Referee : Cüneyt Çakır ( Turkey ) Final 15 July 2018 ( 2018 - 07 - 15 ) 18 : 00 MSK ( UTC + 3 ) France 4 -- 2 Croatia Mandžukić 18 ' ( o.g. ) Griezmann 38 ' ( pen. ) Pogba 59 ' Mbappé 65 ' Report Perišić 28 ' Mandžukić 69 ' Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow Attendance : 78,011 Referee : Néstor Pitana ( Argentina ) List of matches World Cup Round Opponent Score Result Venue Scorers 1998 Group stage Jamaica 3 -- 1 Lens Stanić, Prosinečki, Šuker Japan 1 -- 0 Nantes Šuker Argentina 0 -- 1 Bordeaux & -- Round of 16 Romania 1 -- 0 Bordeaux Šuker Quarter - final Germany 3 -- 0 Lyon Jarni, Vlaović, Šuker Semi-final France 1 -- 2 Saint - Denis Šuker Third place match Netherlands 2 -- 1 Paris Prosinečki, Šuker 2002 Group stage Mexico 0 -- 1 Niigata & -- Italy 2 -- 1 Ibaraki Olić, Rapaić Ecuador 0 -- 1 Yokohama & -- 2006 Group stage Brazil 0 -- 1 Berlin & -- Japan 0 -- 0 Nuremberg & -- Australia 2 -- 2 Stuttgart Srna, N. Kovač 2014 Group stage Brazil 1 -- 3 São Paulo Marcelo ( o.g. ) Cameroon 4 -- 0 Manaus Olić, Perišić, Mandžukić ( 2 ) Mexico 1 -- 3 Recife Perišić 2018 Group stage Nigeria 2 -- 0 Kaliningrad Etebo ( o.g. ), Modrić Argentina 3 -- 0 Nizhny Novgorod Rebić, Modrić, Rakitić Iceland 2 -- 1 Rostov - on - Don Badelj, Perišić Round of 16 Denmark 1 -- 1 ( a.e.t. ) ( 3 -- 2 p ) Nizhny Novgorod Mandžukić Quarter - finals Russia 2 -- 2 ( a.e.t. ) ( 4 -- 3 p ) Sochi Kramarić, Vida Semi-finals England 2 -- 1 ( a.e.t. ) Moscow Perišić, Mandžukić Final France 2 -- 4 Moscow Perišić, Mandžukić Players with most appearances Luka Modrić became Croatia 's record World Cup player when he captained his team in the final of the 2018 tournament. In 1998, Davor Šuker became the oldest Golden Boot winner ever at age 30 and went on to become the president of the Croatian Football Federation in 2012. The Croatia national football team in Russia 2018 Luka Modrić is the only Croatian player to ever win the Golden Ball award. He was team captain in 2018, when Croatia reached the World Cup final. No. Name Matches World Cups Luka Modrić 12 2006, 2014 and 2018 Dario Šimić 11 1998, 2002 and 2006 Robert Jarni * 10 1998 and 2002 Dejan Lovren 10 2014 and 2018 Ivan Perišić 10 2014 and 2018 Ivan Rakitić 10 2014 and 2018 7 Mario Stanić 9 1998 and 2002 Stipe Pletikosa 9 2002, 2006 and 2014 Ante Rebić 9 2014 and 2018 10 Zvonimir Soldo 8 1998 and 2002 Davor Šuker 8 1998 and 2002 Ivica Olić 8 2002, 2006 and 2014 Šime Vrsaljko 8 2014 and 2018 Mateo Kovačić 8 2014 and 2018 Mario Mandžukić 8 2014 and 2018 * Robert Jarni also played one match at the 1990 World Cup, representing SFR Yugoslavia. Goalscorers No. Name Goals World Cups Davor Šuker 6 1998 Ivan Perišić 5 2014 ( 2 ) and 2018 ( 3 ) Mario Mandžukić 5 2014 ( 2 ) and 2018 ( 3 ) Robert Prosinečki * 1998 Ivica Olić 2002 and 2014 Luka Modrić 2018 * Robert Prosinečki also scored one goal at the 1990 World Cup, representing SFR Yugoslavia. Awards Team Awards Third Place 1998 Second Place 2018 Individual Awards Golden Boot 1998 : Davor Šuker ( Oldest Golden Boot winner with 30 years ) Silver Ball 1998 : Davor Šuker All - Star Team 1998 : Davor Šuker Golden Ball 2018 : Luka Modrić All - Star Team 2018 : Luka Modrić Squads Croatia squad -- 1998 FIFA World Cup third place 1 Ladić 2 Krpan 3 Šerić 4 Štimac 5 Jurić 6 Bilić 7 Asanović 8 Prosinečki 9 Šuker 10 Boban ( c ) 11 Marić 12 Mrmić 13 Stanić 14 Soldo 15 Tudor 16 Kozniku 17 Jarni 18 Mamić 19 Vlaović 20 Šimić 21 Jurčić 22 Vasilj Coach : Blažević Croatia squad -- 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Pletikosa 2 Šerić 3 Šimunić 4 Tomas 5 Rapaić 6 Živković 7 Vugrinec 8 Prosinečki 9 Šuker ( c ) 10 N. Kovač 11 Bokšić 12 Butina 13 Stanić 14 Soldo 15 Šarić 16 Vranješ 17 Jarni 18 Olić 19 Vlaović 20 Šimić 21 R. Kovač 22 Balaban 23 Vasilj Coach : Jozić Croatia squad -- 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Pletikosa 2 Srna 3 Šimunić 4 R. Kovač 5 Tudor 6 Vranješ 7 Šimić 8 Babić 9 Pršo 10 N. Kovač ( c ) 11 Tokić 12 Didulica 13 Tomas 14 Modrić 15 I. Leko 16 J. Leko 17 Klasnić 18 Olić 19 N. Kranjčar 20 Šerić 21 Balaban 22 Bošnjak 23 Butina Coach : Z. Kranjčar Croatia squad -- 2014 FIFA World Cup 1 Pletikosa 2 Vrsaljko 3 Pranjić 4 Perišić 5 Ćorluka 6 Lovren 7 Rakitić 8 Vukojević 9 Jelavić 10 Modrić 11 Srna ( c ) 12 Zelenika 13 Schildenfeld 14 Brozović 15 Badelj 16 Rebić 17 Mandžukić 18 Olić 19 Sammir 20 Kovačić 21 Vida 22 Eduardo 23 Subašić Coach : Kovač Croatia squad -- 2018 FIFA World Cup runners - up 1 Livaković 2 Vrsaljko 3 Strinić 4 Perišić 5 Ćorluka 6 Lovren 7 Rakitić 8 Kovačić 9 Kramarić 10 Modrić ( c ) 11 Brozović 12 L. Kalinić 13 Jedvaj 14 Bradarić 15 Ćaleta - Car 16 N. Kalinić 17 Mandžukić 18 Rebić 19 Badelj 20 Pjaca 21 Vida 22 Pivarić 23 Subašić Coach : Dalić See also List of Croatia international footballers Croatia at the UEFA European Championship References Jump up ^ `` History of the World Cup Final Draw '' ( PDF ). FIFA.com. Retrieved 2009 - 11 - 24. Jump up ^ `` Match report -- Group D -- Croatia v Nigeria '' ( PDF ). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 16 June 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018. Jump up ^ `` Match report -- Group D -- Argentina v Croatia '' ( PDF ). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018. Jump up ^ `` Match report -- Group D -- Iceland v Croatia '' ( PDF ). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018. Jump up ^ `` Match report -- Round of 16 -- Croatia v Denmark '' ( PDF ). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 1 July 2018. Archived ( PDF ) from the original on 8 July 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018. Jump up ^ `` Match report -- Quarter - final -- Russia v Croatia '' ( PDF ). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 7 July 2018. Archived ( PDF ) from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018. Jump up ^ `` Match report -- Semi-final -- Croatia v England '' ( PDF ). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2018. Jump up ^ `` Match report -- Final -- France v Croatia '' ( PDF ). FIFA. 15 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018. Croatia national football team General Croatian Football Federation Statistics Results Hat - tricks Players 20 + caps World Cup Finals Summary 2018 FIFA World Cup Final European Finals Summary Notable matches SR Croatia 5 -- 2 Indonesia ( 1956 ) Croatia 2 -- 1 United States ( 1990 ) Other teams Men 's Under - 21 Under - 20 Under - 19 Under - 17 Women 's Under - 19 Under - 17 Croatia at the FIFA World Cup France 1998 Korea / Japan 2002 Germany 2006 Brazil 2014 Russia 2018 Countries at the FIFA World Cup Team appearances Teams with no appearances All - time table AFC Australia China Indonesia Iran Iraq Japan Kuwait North Korea Saudi Arabia South Korea United Arab Emirates CAF Algeria Angola Cameroon DR Congo Egypt Ghana Ivory Coast Morocco Nigeria Senegal South Africa Togo Tunisia CONCACAF Canada Costa Rica Cuba El Salvador Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Panama Trinidad and Tobago United States CONMEBOL Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Paraguay Peru Uruguay OFC New Zealand UEFA Austria Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic Denmark East Germany England France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Israel Italy Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia Scotland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales Considered a successor team by FIFA, or have competed under another name ( s ). Have been member of multiple confederations. Team and national federation no longer exist. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Croatia_at_the_FIFA_World_Cup&oldid=856363525 '' Categories : Croatia at the FIFA World Cup Countries at the FIFA World Cup Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Hrvatski Scots Edit links This page was last edited on 24 August 2018, at 17 : 49 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: how many times has croatia been the world cup
Answer: five