# Croatia–Serbia football rivalry

The Croatia–Serbia football rivalry is a football rivalry between the national football teams of Croatia and Serbia.
Although from a sports perspective, it does not fulfill the requirements of a football rivalry, as Croatia and Serbia/Yugoslavia only met four times: two each in the UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying and another two occasions during their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaigns, it is proclaimed by some Western media to be one of the most hostile in world football due to their complex political history stemming from World War II and the breakup of Yugoslavia. The two rivals had previously both represented the Yugoslavia national football team, and contributed the bulk of the team's footballers during almost 70 years of its existence. Both national sides are governed by UEFA in Europe, in addition to FIFA during their international matches.

## History
### Origins

The two countries first played in the semi-final of the one-off 1945 Yugoslav Football Tournament. The Home Championship/Victory International-style competition was played amongst six federal republics of Yugoslavia, one autonomous region and the Yugoslav People's Army team to mark the end of World War II. Serbia featured a team almost entirely composed of Red Star Belgrade players whilst Dinamo Zagreb was the primary contributor to the Croatian line-up. The match was played in Belgrade's 20th October Stadium with Serbia defeating Croatia 3–1, and progressing to the final where they beat the Army team 1–0. These matches are not formally recognized by FIFA or UEFA as this was a domestic tournament organised by the Football Association of Yugoslavia.
On 13 May 1990, Dinamo Zagreb hosted Red Star Belgrade at Stadion Maksimir in the Yugoslav First League. It was two weeks after Croatia's first election, in the middle of ethnic tensions in Yugoslavia. The game was interrupted after only ten minutes, as Dinamo's ultras Bad Blue Boys and Red Star's ultras Delije started an infamous riot. The incident is remembered for Dinamo's Zvonimir Boban kicking a Militia officer, after seeing him beating a Dinamo ultra. Boban was suspended for six months by the Football Association of Yugoslavia and expelled from the squad for the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
On 3 June 1990, a friendly match between Yugoslavia and the Netherlands took place at Stadion Maksimir and was the last friendly before the 1990 FIFA World Cup. The crowd of 20,000 booed the Yugoslav national anthem "Hey, Slavs". Fans cheered for the Netherlands, heckling the Yugoslav team and their manager Ivica Osim. Many Dutch flags were also seen in the crowd, owing to their similarity to the Croatian tricolour. The match was the last Yugoslavia match to be played at the stadium. On 17 October of that same year, Croatia played its first international match as a sovereign country, against the United States.

### UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying

Croatia played against FR Yugoslavia (later renamed as Serbia and Montenegro) on 18 August 1999 at the Red Star Stadium in Belgrade, as part of UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying. The match ended as a goalless draw. The match remained memorable for a power outage at the stadium that allegedly intimidated the Croatian players. The return game at Stadion Maksimir in Zagreb was played on 9 October 1999 and it was a decisive match for Croatia, as they needed a victory to qualify for the tournament. Ten minutes into the game, Aljoša Asanović passed the ball to Davor Šuker who took a shot, but Ivica Kralj rebounded it. Even though the ball was over the goal line, Spanish referee José María García-Aranda ruled the goal out. In 20th minute, Alen Bokšić opened the scoreline. Yugoslavia came from behind with goals by Predrag Mijatović and Dejan Stanković in 26th and 31st respective minute. In a contest between Zoran Mirković and Robert Jarni, the former grabbed the latter and received a red card. The incident motivated Croatia even more resulting in Mario Stanić's equalizer in 47th minute, drawing the match.

### 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Croatia and now-independent Serbia met for the first time after nearly 70 years since their first encounter in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification. The first match was played on 22 March 2013 at Stadion Maksimir and ended up as a 2–0 victory for Croatia following goals by Mario Mandžukić and Ivica Olić. The return game was played on 6 September 2013 at the Red Star Stadium and ended up as a 1–1 draw. Croatia took the lead after Mandžukić scored in 53rd minute but Serbia equalized in 66th minute through Aleksandar Mitrović. In 80th minute, Josip Šimunić tackled Miralem Sulejmani as the latter was running towards Croatia's goal. As a result, he received a red card. Croatia finished the qualification as the group runners-up and went on to beat Iceland 2–0 on aggregate in the play-offs. Serbia ended up third in the group with three points less than Croatia and subsequently did not qualify for the tournament.

## Matches
### Statistics

| Competition | Croatia Wins | Draws | Serbia Wins |
| Total | 1 | 3 | 0 |

## Top scorers

* Mario Mandžukić (2 goals)
* Alen Bokšić (1 goal)
* Predrag Mijatović (1 goal)
* Aleksandar Mitrović (1 goal)
* Ivica Olić (1 goal)
* Mario Stanić (1 goal)
* Dejan Stanković (1 goal)

## Comparison in major international tournaments
### Key

Denotes which team finished better in that particular competition.
| Tournament | Croatia | FR Yugoslavia | Notes |
| UEFA Euro 1992 | Not a FIFA member | Suspended | Yugoslavia qualified but was banned from international sports tournaments as part of United Nations Security Council Resolution 757. |
| 1994 FIFA World Cup | Not a FIFA member | Suspended | Yugoslavia qualified but was banned from international sports tournaments as part of United Nations Security Council Resolution 757. |
| UEFA Euro 1996 | 7th | Suspended | Yugoslavia qualified but was banned from international sports tournaments as part of United Nations Security Council Resolution 757. |
| 1998 FIFA World Cup | 3rd | 10th | In the quarter-finals, Croatia eliminated Germany, who had previously drawn with Yugoslavia in the group stage. In the third place play-off, Croatia defeated the Netherlands, who had previously eliminated Yugoslavia in the round of 16. |
| UEFA Euro 2000 | Did not qualify | 8th | Yugoslavia denied Croatia's qualification to the tournament following a goalless draw in Belgrade and a 2–2 draw in Zagreb, as Croatia needed a win in Zagreb to qualify. |
| 2002 FIFA World Cup | 23rd | Did not qualify | |
| UEFA Euro 2004 | 13th | Serbia and Montenegro | |
| UEFA Euro 2004 | 13th | Did not qualify | |
| 2006 FIFA World Cup | 22nd | 32nd | |
| UEFA Euro 2008 | 5th | Serbia | |
| UEFA Euro 2008 | 5th | Did not qualify | |
| 2010 FIFA World Cup | Did not qualify | 23rd | |
| UEFA Euro 2012 | 10th | Did not qualify | |
| 2014 FIFA World Cup | 19th | Did not qualify | Croatia and Serbia were drawn in the same qualifying group. Following a 2–0 win in Zagreb and a 1–1 draw in Belgrade, Croatia ended the qualification as the group runner-up with three points ahead of third-placed Serbia. |
| UEFA Euro 2016 | 9th | Did not qualify | |
| 2018 FIFA World Cup | 2nd | 23rd | |
| 2019 UEFA Nations League | 9th | Did not qualify | |
| UEFA Euro 2020 | 14th | Did not qualify | |
| 2021 UEFA Nations League | 12th | Did not qualify | |
| 2022 FIFA World Cup | 3rd | 29th | In the quarter-finals, Croatia eliminated Brazil, who had previously defeated Serbia in the group stage. |
| 2023 UEFA Nations League | 2nd | Did not qualify | Serbia was promoted to League A but did not qualify for the year's tournament finals. |
| UEFA Euro 2024 | 20th | 19th | Serbia has been qualified to UEFA Euro 2024 for the first time in their history as independent Serbia. |