# Croatia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Croatia participated in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. This was their fifth appearance. Croatia managed to reach the final where they lost to France and finished second in the tournament.

## Qualifying

Croatia was in Group I of UEFA's World Cup qualifications. They played alongside Iceland, Ukraine, Turkey, Finland and Kosovo. Croatia finished as runner-up in the group and entered the second-round play-offs where the team beat Greece and qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Croatia national team was led by manager Ante Čačić until 7 October 2017 when he was, due to a series of bad results, replaced by Zlatko Dalić.

### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Iceland | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 7 | +9 | 22 | Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Croatia | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 4 | +11 | 20 | Advance to second round | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Ukraine | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 17 | | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| 4 | Turkey | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 13 | +1 | 15 | | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| 5 | Finland | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 9 | | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | — | 1–1 |
| 6 | Kosovo | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 24 | −21 | 1 | | 1–2 | 0–6 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 0–1 | — |
The results of the group stage

### Players

Altogether 26 players appeared in the qualifying matches. Domagoj Vida is the only player that appeared in all 12 matches playing the full 90 minutes of all games. Mario Mandžukić was the top scorer with 5 achieved goals. Filip Bradarić, Duje Ćaleta-Car and Dominik Livaković did not appear in any of the qualifying matches but made the final World Cup squad.
Complete list of players in the qualifying matches
| # | Name | Games played | Goals |
| 1 | Domagoj Vida | 12 | 1 |
| 2 | Mario Mandžukić | 11 | 5 |
| 2 | Marcelo Brozović | 11 | 2 |
| 2 | Andrej Kramarić | 11 | 3 |
| 2 | Ivan Perišić | 11 | 1 |
| 6 | Danijel Subašić | 10 | 0 |
| 6 | Šime Vrsaljko | 10 | 0 |
| 6 | Luka Modrić | 10 | 0 |
| 9 | Nikola Kalinić | 9 | 2 |
| 9 | Milan Badelj | 9 | 0 |
| 9 | Josip Pivarić | 9 | 0 |
| 12 | Ivan Rakitić | 8 | 1 |
| 13 | Mateo Kovačić | 7 | 0 |
| 14 | Matej Mitrović | 6 | 1 |
| 14 | Dejan Lovren | 6 | 0 |
| 16 | Marko Rog | 5 | 0 |
| 17 | Duje Čop | 4 | 0 |
| 18 | Ivan Strinić | 3 | 0 |
| 18 | Vedran Ćorluka | 3 | 0 |
| 18 | Mario Pašalić | 3 | 0 |
| 21 | Lovre Kalinić | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | Tin Jedvaj | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | Ante Rebić | 2 | 0 |
| 24 | Marko Pjaca | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | Ivan Santini | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | Nikola Vlašić | 1 | 0 |
Source: Croatian Football Federation
* Player was not selected for the 2018 FIFA World Cup squad

## Draw

Croatia was drawn into Group D. Croatia's opponents in the first stage were Nigeria, Argentina and Iceland.

### Squad

Coach: Zlatko Dalić
A 32-man preliminary squad was announced on 14 May 2018. The squad was reduced to 24 players on 21 May. The final squad was announced on 4 June.
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
| 1 | 1GK | Dominik Livaković | (1995-01-09)9 January 1995 (aged 23) | 1 | 0 | Dinamo Zagreb |
| 2 | 2DF | Šime Vrsaljko | (1992-01-10)10 January 1992 (aged 26) | 35 | 0 | Atlético Madrid |
| 3 | 2DF | Ivan Strinić | (1987-07-17)17 July 1987 (aged 30) | 43 | 0 | Sampdoria |
| 4 | 4FW | Ivan Perišić | (1989-02-02)2 February 1989 (aged 29) | 66 | 18 | Inter Milan |
| 5 | 2DF | Vedran Ćorluka | (1986-02-05)5 February 1986 (aged 32) | 99 | 4 | Lokomotiv Moscow |
| 6 | 2DF | Dejan Lovren | (1989-07-05)5 July 1989 (aged 28) | 39 | 2 | Liverpool |
| 7 | 3MF | Ivan Rakitić | (1988-03-10)10 March 1988 (aged 30) | 92 | 14 | Barcelona |
| 8 | 3MF | Mateo Kovačić | (1994-05-06)6 May 1994 (aged 24) | 41 | 1 | Real Madrid |
| 9 | 4FW | Andrej Kramarić | (1991-06-19)19 June 1991 (aged 26) | 31 | 9 | 1899 Hoffenheim |
| 10 | 3MF | Luka Modrić (captain) | (1985-09-09)9 September 1985 (aged 32) | 106 | 12 | Real Madrid |
| 11 | 3MF | Marcelo Brozović | (1992-11-16)16 November 1992 (aged 25) | 35 | 6 | Inter Milan |
| 12 | 1GK | Lovre Kalinić | (1990-04-03)3 April 1990 (aged 28) | 11 | 0 | Gent |
| 13 | 2DF | Tin Jedvaj | (1995-11-28)28 November 1995 (aged 22) | 12 | 0 | Bayer Leverkusen |
| 14 | 3MF | Filip Bradarić | (1992-01-11)11 January 1992 (aged 26) | 4 | 0 | Rijeka |
| 15 | 2DF | Duje Ćaleta-Car | (1996-09-17)17 September 1996 (aged 21) | 1 | 0 | Red Bull Salzburg |
| 16 | 4FW | Nikola Kalinić | (1988-01-05)5 January 1988 (aged 30) | 42 | 15 | Milan |
| 17 | 4FW | Mario Mandžukić | (1986-05-21)21 May 1986 (aged 32) | 83 | 30 | Juventus |
| 18 | 4FW | Ante Rebić | (1993-09-21)21 September 1993 (aged 24) | 16 | 1 | Eintracht Frankfurt |
| 19 | 3MF | Milan Badelj | (1989-02-25)25 February 1989 (aged 29) | 38 | 1 | Fiorentina |
| 20 | 4FW | Marko Pjaca | (1995-05-06)6 May 1995 (aged 23) | 16 | 1 | Schalke 04 |
| 21 | 2DF | Domagoj Vida | (1989-04-29)29 April 1989 (aged 29) | 59 | 2 | Beşiktaş |
| 22 | 2DF | Josip Pivarić | (1989-01-30)30 January 1989 (aged 29) | 19 | 0 | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 23 | 1GK | Danijel Subašić | (1984-10-27)27 October 1984 (aged 33) | 38 | 0 | Monaco |

## Standings

* Legend
* Group winners and runners-up advanced to the round of 16
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Croatia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Argentina | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Nigeria | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Iceland | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 1 | |