A History of Croatia at the World Cup

Find out about Croatia’s history at the World Cup. Learn about their most famous victories, biggest wins, highest capped players, top scorers, and much more!

Heading into their third consecutive World Cup, Croatia have become a regular at the tournament in recent years. Since becoming an independent nation after separating from Yugoslavia, Croatia have consistently punched above their weight at the competition, stringing together some impressive campaigns to date.

This blog will cover the history of Croatia at the World Cup, looking at their record in the tournament, iconic memories, top appearance makers and goalscorers, alongside much more!

What is Croatia’s World Cup record?

Including the 2026 tournament, Croatia have qualified for seven tournaments in total, representing a much newer history in the competition compared to some other nations. In 30 games, they’ve managed to reach 13 wins, eight draws, and nine losses, meaning they have a respectable win rate of 43.3%.

Despite not winning the tournament, Croatia have impressed in many of their campaigns, reaching two semi-finals and even a final too. This means that they’ve placed in the top three in half of their World Cup appearances! With an impressive record like this, there’s certainly room for a potential deep run into the tournament again in 2026.

A look back at Croatia’s recent World Cup tournaments

Croatia’s last two campaigns have been some of their most impressive considering they reached the 2018 World Cup final and the 2022 World Cup semi-final.

In their fairytale run to the final, they faced some tough opposition along the way, beating Denmark and Russia on penalties, and England in the semi-finals with an extra-time winner.  The final saw them meet France, who proved to be too strong and went on to win 4-2.

In 2022, Croatia went on another fantastic run, only losing in the semi-finals against the eventual winners Argentina. This campaign was filled with some more impressive results, as Croatia beat Brazil in the quarter-final, and then Morocco in the third-place play-off.

What is Croatia’s record against their group stage opponents?

Croatia’s 2026 World Cup campaign will begin with them facing off against England, Panama, and Ghana in Group L.

To gain some potential insight into how these upcoming games could pan out, let’s take a look at their previous record against each side.

England

Croatia have played England 11 times before the 2026 World Cup, with the overall balance being fairly competitive.

England have bettered them on more occasions, with Croatia winning three times, drawing once, and losing six times.

Croatia still has the most important of these wins, however, with a 2-1 win in the 2018 World Cup semi-final.

Panama

Because Panama and Croatia have never played each other before, we can’t look at historical form to predict how the fixture might play out.

However, looking at the FIFA rankings can help us to figure out which side will be going in as favourites. With Croatia ranked 11th, they sit 22 places above Panama in 33rd, meaning on paper they are the better side.

Considering Croatia’s squad value stands at €258.5m and Panama’s is only €5.3m, they’re again ending up as the more favoured team.

Ghana

Another fixture that will be played for the first time at the 2026 World Cup is Croatia vs Ghana. So, again, with previous matches being unavailable to use, we can have a look at the FIFA rankings.

Ghana sit much further down the rankings than Croatia, in 72nd place, with them being 61 positions behind. However, as they have a squad value of €254.85m, they are comparable sides in this respect as Croatia’s is only around €4m more.

Considering they’ve also got dangerous players up front like Antoine Semenyo and Mohammed Kudus, they could always pose a threat.

Iconic Croatia World Cup memories

Throughout Croatia’s six campaigns at the World Cup, they’ve been able to create some special memories at the tournament. After multiple deep runs into the competition, let’s have a look at some of their best moments yet:

• Davor Šuker goal vs France (1998): In the semi-final game against France, Šuker gave Croatia a shock lead against the tournament hosts. He latched onto a through ball and finished off the chance clinically, driving the ball past Fabien Barthez in goal. Though going on to lose the game 2-1, this goal contributed to his Golden Boot tally at the tournament and is remembered by Croatian fans everywhere.

• Mario Mandžukić’s goal vs England (2018): Running onto a header from Ivan Perišić in the 108th minute of the game, Mandžukić was able to get in behind England’s defence and smash the ball past Jordan Pickford. With this goal sending Croatia to the World Cup final, it’s remembered as a crucial moment in their best-ever run at the tournament.

• Drama-filled encounter with Australia (2006): In the last group game of the 2006 World Cup, Croatia needed to beat Australia to progress into the knockout stages. Despite this, Australia came back from a goal down twice and secured a 2-2 draw in what was an action-packed thriller. Three players were sent off in this match, with Croatia losing Dario Šimić and Josip Šimunić, whilst Australia lost Brett Emerton.

• Davor Šuker secures bronze (1998): In the third-place play-off game against the Netherlands, the game was a closely fought contest. Šuker scored the decisive goal, restoring Croatia’s lead in the 35th minute after scoring with a wonderful curling shot from the edge of the box. This was also the final goal in his Golden Boot-winning campaign and finished off an impressive World Cup debut for Croatia.

• Danijel Subašić’s penalty heroics (2018): The knockout stages of Croatia’s 2018 World Cup run were defined by penalty saving masterclasses from Subašić. The Croatian keeper managed to save three penalties to beat Denmark in the last 16, and another against Russia in the quarter-final. By doing this, he joined Portugal’s Ricardo and Argentina’s Sergio Goycochea in being the only goalkeepers to save three penalties in one World Cup shootout!

Luka Modric at the World Cup

As one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Luka Modrić has been an integral part of Croatia’s success at the World Cup.

The midfield maestro became the first player other than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to win the Ballon d’Or in 2018. This was as a result of both his club success at Real Madrid as he won a third-successive Champions League, and him leading his nation to the World Cup final. Modrić was also given the Golden Ball at the 2018 World Cup, acknowledging him as the best player at the tournament, and cementing him as one of the world’s best.

Outside of the 2018 campaign, he’s also been the heartbeat of the Croatian national team for many other years too, playing an instrumental role in their 2022 run to the semi-final.

Croatia’s biggest World Cup wins

Despite not having many of the biggest names in world football, Croatia have always been competitive and produced some fantastic scorelines and results. Let’s have a look at the biggest wins that they’ve been able to achieve so far:

4-0 vs Cameroon (2014)

Though this came as part of one of their worst World Cup campaigns with them not making it out of the group stage, their victory over Cameroon was a memorable one.

With goals from Ivica Olić, Perišić, and two from Mandžukić, Croatia saw off Cameroon with relative ease, and Mandžukić became the first Croatian player to score a brace at the World Cup. Alex Song being sent off towards the back end of the first half didn’t help Cameroon’s cause, and Croatia obtained their only win at the 2014 tournament.

3-0 vs Germany (1998)

After goals from Davor Šuker, Goran Vlaović, and Robert Jarni, Croatia achieved a convincing win over the German national team at the 1998 World Cup quarter-final.

Just before half-time, Jarni gave the Croats the lead with a low-driven shot from outside the box. This followed a red card for Germany’s Christian Wörns only minutes earlier, placing Croatia in a great position at the break. Vlaović’s strike into the bottom corner doubled Croatia’s lead in the 81st minute, before Šuker slotted the ball between the German keeper’s legs and sealed the win just five minutes later.

3-0 vs Argentina (2018)

Coming up against the 2014 World Cup runners-up, Argentina, Croatia were given little chance going into the game. This didn’t stop them, however, with Ante Rebić capitalising on an error from the Argentina goalkeeper, Willy Caballero, and opening the scoring with a fantastic volley. Followed by a Luka Modrić rocket and a goal from Ivan Rakitić, Croatia wrapped up a dominant performance and an historic victory.

Croatia’s biggest World Cup defeats

They may have achieved some impressive wins, but they’ve also suffered some convincing losses at the tournament as well. Here are their worst defeats in the history of the World Cup:

3-0 vs Argentina (2022)

Croatia’s biggest defeat came in the last edition of the World Cup, in the semi-final vs Argentina. Lionel Messi’s stunning performance helped to take Argentina to the final, with him both scoring and assisting in the game.

Messi’s penalty beat Dominik Livaković in the 34th minute, with Julián Alvarez doubling the lead five minutes later. The third goal came from some Messi magic, as he managed to beat Joško Gvardiol down the touchline and play the ball across the box for Alvarez to score.

4-2 vs France (2018)

Unfortunately for Croatia, one of their biggest defeats at the World Cup came in the 2018 final against France. The scoring began with an own goal from Mandžukić who headed in a free-kick from Antoine Griezmann, but Croatia equalised through a left-footed strike by Perišić. Only ten minutes later, Griezmann converted a penalty given for handball against Perišić, which gave France the lead at half-time.

Paul Pogba then smashed one in from outside the box, just before the 60th minute, and Kylian Mbappé grabbed a fourth for France. Croatia managed to pull one back after Mandžukić forced an error from goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, but it wasn’t enough to get them back in the game.

3-1 vs Brazil (2014)

Marcelo’s own goal may have given them the lead after 11 minutes, but it wasn’t one they could hold onto. Neymar ran the show for Brazil, scoring two goals, with a fantastic low-driven shot in the 29th minute bringing them level, and a powerful penalty in the 71st minute putting them in front. The 91st minute then saw Oscar pick up the ball just inside Croatia’s half before driving forwards and rifling the ball into the bottom left corner to seal the win.

3-1 vs Mexico (2014)

Mexico confirmed their place in the last 16 by defeating Croatia in the 2014 group stage. Though being 0-0 for most of the game, a headed goal from Rafael Marquez put Mexico in front 72 minutes in, and the floodgates were opened.

Only three minutes later, Andres Guardado grabbed a second for Mexico, with Javier Hernandez scoring a third not long after. Ivan Perišić then managed to get a consolation goal for Croatia with a low-driven shot past the keeper, but they ended the game with ten men after Ante Rebić received a red card in the 89th minute.

Who has made the most World Cup appearances for Croatia?

With some of Croatia’s best players being their most senior, there are some who’ve managed to rack up many appearances for their national side. Here’s a list of the top appearance makers for the Croatian national team, with how many tournaments they’ve attended:

Who has scored the most World Cup goals for Croatia?

With active players like Perišić pushing to be Croatia’s top goalscorer, the record holder could soon change if he manages more goals at the 2026 World Cup. For now, though, here’s the current top goalscorers list for Croatia:

As previously mentioned in this blog, Davor Šuker won the Golden Boot for his 1998 campaign where he scored six goals. His performances also earned him the Silver Ball too, acknowledging him as the second-best player in the tournament.

Can Croatia win their first World Cup this year?

They may not be favourites to become the tournament winner in 2026, but with appearances in the final and semi-final in 2018 and 2022, could they go one step further?

Their golden generation may be getting older, with players like Modrić being 40 and Perišić being 37, but they can still make one last impact. Combine this with younger talents like 24-year-old Joško Gvardiol and 25-year-old Josip Stanišić, they could be a dark horse in the tournament.

Adding in their history of overperforming means that you just can’t write them off from achieving the dream of their first World Cup victory.

How to bet on Croatia at the 2026 World Cup

World Cup betting is always something to keep an eye on, as the world’s best footballing nations go head-to-head and compete for arguably the biggest prize in football. Here at Betway, you can choose from a wide variety of markets like top goalscorer, tournament winner, and in-play betting, as well as specific Croatia World Cup betting markets.

Head over to the Betway site or use our mobile app through the Betway app to start your World Cup betting now!

Croatia World Cup FAQs

Has Croatia ever reached the World Cup final?

Yes, Croatia reached the World Cup final in 2018 against France but lost the match 4-2.