Croatia national under-23 football team
 | |||
| Nickname(s) | Mladi Vatreni (The Young Blazers) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Croatian Football Federation (HNS) | ||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach | Robert Jarni | ||
| Captain | Tonio Teklić | ||
| Most caps | Željko Pavlović (5)Dražen Madunović (5)Mario Stanić (5)Josip Gašpar (5)Danijel Štefulj (5) | ||
| Top scorer | Igor Cvitanović (2) | ||
| FIFA code | CRO | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
 Croatia 1–1 Slovenia  (Varaždin, Croatia; 17 March 1993) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 Qatar A 0–3 Croatia (Wiener Neustadt, Austria; 20 September 2022) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
Croatia 0–2 Tunisia  (Alès, France; 17 June 1993) | |||
| Website | hns-cff.hr | ||
The Croatia national under-23 football team represents Croatia in football matches for players aged 23 or under. Although it never participated at the Olympics, the team is sometimes referred to as the Croatia Olympic football team (Croatian: Hrvatska olimpijska nogometna reprezentacija).
The team was formed for the 1993 Mediterranean Games held in France. Prior to the tournament, Croatia played two preparational friendlies against Slovenia, both ending in a 1–1 draw. These were also the first matches ever played by the Croatian team. At the tournament itself Croatia finished last in its four-teams-group, losing two, and drawing one match. In 1996 the team played a friendly against Brazil as Brazil's preparation match for the upcoming 1996 Olympics, drawing 1–1. During the 1997 Mediterranean Games held in Italy, the team again finished last in its three-teams-group, losing both matches. In 1998, it won a friendly against Romania with a 0–1 score and in 2013 it lost a friendly against the Netherlands. The team didn't play any matches from 2013 until 2022 when it met the Qatari senior team as part of their pre-2022 FIFA World Cup preparation in a friendly in Austria, winning 3–0.
Since Croatia U21 never managed to secure Croatia's participation at the Olympics through UEFA EURO U21 Championship, which serves as a qualifying system, Croatia U23 has never participated at the Olympics.
History
Croatia's national under-23 football team was formed for the occasion of the 1993 Mediterranean Games, held in June 1993 in France. The team was led by Vlatko Marković. Its first matches, the two friendlies against Slovenia, were played as a preparation for the Mediterranean Games. The two teams first met on 17 March 1993 in Zaprešić, Croatia, and the second time on 12 May 1993 in Maribor, Slovenia, with both matches ending in a 1–1 draw.[1][2][3] At the tournament itself, Croatia was in the group with Tunisia, Turkey, and France. It played its first match against Tunisia, losing 0–2.[4][5] Its second match against Turkey also ended in defeat, with a score of 2–3.[6][7] A 3–3 draw against France was their last match in the tournament.[8][9] Croatia finished last among ten teams, while Turkey won the tournament. The 1993 Mediterranean Games were at the same time the first Croatian encounter with international competitive football after its independence. The coach Marković was disappointed with the performance, blaming the "celebrities" within the team, commenting that "the first encounter with the world football shows us how low we have fallen, we're at the tail of all modern football events".[10]
Croatia's U23 team went on to play against Brazil's U23 team in a friendly which ended in a 1–1 draw. Croatia was led by Martin Novoselac. At the time Brazil held the champions title of the 1994 FIFA World Cup and was preparing for the 1996 Olympics in the United States.[11]
Under the leadership of Ivo Šušak, the Croatian U23 team competed at the 1997 Mediterranean Games, being in the group with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Spain. It lost both matches, with scores 0–1 against Bosnia and Herzegovina and 1–2 against Spain, finishing last in its group. Italy won the tournament, while Croatia finished 10th among 13 teams. The football tournament at the next Mediterranean Games was limited to players aged 21 or younger, with Croatia not participating in future Mediterranean football tournaments.
In 1998, in Bucharest, Croatia played a friendly against Romania, which at the time had one of the best young football teams. Croatia won the match with a 0–1 score.[12] Fifteen years later, in 2013, Croatia played against the Netherlands in Pula, with Croatia losing 2–3.[13][14]
The team was formed again in September 2022 to replace Bolivia senior team for a friendly match against Qatar senior team, after Bolivia canceled the match. The Croatian team was led by Robert Jarni who also led the Croatia U17 team.[15] The match was played on 20 September 2022 in Wiener Neustadt in Austria as Qatar's preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup which they hosted. Croatia won 0–3.
Fixtures
| 17 March 1993 Friendly | Croatia | 1–1 | Slovenia | Varaždin, Croatia |
| 15:15 |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Stadion Varteks Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Lajos Hartmann (Hungary) |
| 12 May 1993 Friendly | Slovenia | 1–1 | Croatia | Maribor, Slovenia |
| 16:30 |
|
Report | Stadium: Ljudski vrt Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Ladislav Gádoši (Slovakia) |
| 17 June 1993 1993 Mediterranean Games Gr B | Croatia | 0–2 | Tunisia | Alès, France |
| 20:00 |
|
Report | Stadium: Stade Pierre Pibarot Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Giorgos Bikas (Greece) |
| 19 June 1993 1993 Mediterranean Games Gr B | Croatia | 2–3 |  Turkey | Sète, France |
| Report | Stadium: Stade Louis-Michel Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Merzak Nems (Algeria) |
| 21 June 1993 1993 Mediterranean Games Gr B | France  | 3–3 | Croatia | Alès, France |
| Report |
|
Stadium: Stade Pierre Pibarot Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Salem Prolić (Bosnia and Herzegovina) |
| 22 May 1996 Friendly | Brazil  | 1–1 | Croatia | Manaus, Brazil |
| 17:00 |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Vivaldão Attendance: 43,825 |
| 17 June 1997 1997 Mediterranean Games Gr D | Croatia | 0–1 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Bosnia and Herzegovina | Brindisi, Italy |
| Report |
|
Stadium: Stadio Franco Fanuzzi Referee: Graziano Cesari (Italy) |
| 21 June 1997 1997 Mediterranean Games Gr D | Croatia | 1–2 |  Spain | Lecce, Italy |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Stadio Via del Mare Attendance: 150 Referee: Pascal Garibian (France) |
| 5 February 2013 Friendly | Croatia | 2–3 |  Netherlands | Pula, Croatia |
| 15:00 | Report | Stadium: Stadion Veruda Referee: Darko Čeferin (Slovenia) Assistant referees: Andrej Kokolj (Slovenia) Jure Prapotnik (Slovenia) Fourth official: Marin Vidulin (Croatia) |
Coaching staff
Current coaching staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Robert Jarni |
Players
Current squad
The following players were called up for the friendly match against Qatar A on 20 September 2022.[16]
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Nediljko Labrović | 10 October 1999 | 1 | 0 | Rijeka | |
| GK | Karlo Sentić | 3 June 2001 | 1 | 0 | Hajduk Split | |
| DF | Jakov Medić | 7 September 1998 | 1 | 0 |  St. Pauli | |
| DF | Daniel Štefulj | 8 November 1999 | 1 | 0 | Celje | |
| DF | Ivan Smolčić | 17 August 2000 | 1 | 0 | Rijeka | |
| DF | Roko Jureškin | 29 September 2000 | 1 | 0 |  Benevento | |
| DF | Luka Jelenić | 24 May 2000 | 1 | 0 | Varaždin | |
| DF | Jozo Stanić | 6 April 1999 | 1 | 0 | Varaždin | |
| MF | Darko Nejašmić | 25 June 1999 | 1 | 0 | Osijek | |
| MF | Mihael Žaper | 11 August 1998 | 1 | 0 | Osijek | |
| MF | Hrvoje Babec | 28 July 1999 | 1 | 0 |  Riga | |
| MF | Tonio Teklić | 9 September 1999 | 1 | 1 | Varaždin | |
| MF | Antonio Marin | 9 January 2001 | 1 | 0 | Rijeka | |
| MF | Josip Mitrović | 11 June 2000 | 1 | 1 | Gorica | |
| MF | Ivan Dolček | 24 April 2000 | 1 | 0 | Šibenik | |
| MF | Marko Hanuljak | 31 January 2000 | 1 | 0 | Lokomotiva Zagreb | |
| FW | Sandro Kulenović | 4 December 1999 | 1 | 1 | Lokomotiva Zagreb | |
| FW | Marin Ljubičić | 28 February 2002 | 1 | 0 |  LASK | |
Competitive record
Olympic Games
| Summer Olympic Games record | Qualifications record | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Squad | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Year | |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1896 |
Part of .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Austria-Hungary |
||||||||||||||||
| 1900 | |||||||||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1904 | |||||||||||||||||
 1908 | |||||||||||||||||
 1912 | |||||||||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1920 |
Part of .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Kingdom of Yugoslavia | ||||||||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1924 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1928 | |||||||||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1936 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1948 |
Part of .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Yugoslavia | ||||||||||||||||
 1952 | |||||||||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1956 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1960 | |||||||||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1964 | |||||||||||||||||
 1968 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1972 | |||||||||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1976 | |||||||||||||||||
 1980 | |||||||||||||||||
 1984 | |||||||||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1988 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1992 |
Not a FIFA member | ||||||||||||||||
| 1996 |
Did not qualify | UEFA European Under-21 Championship | 1996 | ||||||||||||||
| 2000 |
2000 | ||||||||||||||||
 2004 |
2004 | ||||||||||||||||
 2008 |
2008 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2012 |
2012 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2016 |
2016 | ||||||||||||||||
 2020 |
2020 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2024 |
To be determined | 2024 | |||||||||||||||
| 2028 |
To be determined | ||||||||||||||||
| 2032 | |||||||||||||||||
| Total | 0/29 | Total | |||||||||||||||
Mediterranean Games
| Mediterrean Games record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Squad |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1951 |
Part of Yugoslavia | ||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1955 | |||||||||
 1959 | |||||||||
| 1963 | |||||||||
| 1967 | |||||||||
| 1971 | |||||||||
 1975 | |||||||||
| 1979 | |||||||||
 1983 | |||||||||
 1987 | |||||||||
| 1991 | |||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1993 |
Group stage | 10th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 1993 |
| 1997 |
Group stage | 10th | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1997 |
| Total | Group stage | 2/13 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 11 | Total |
| Matches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First match | Croatia 0–2 Tunisia (Alès, France; 17 June 1993) | ||||
| Biggest win | — | ||||
| Biggest defeat | Croatia 0–2 Tunisia (Alès, France; 21 June 1993) | ||||
Statistics
Managers
The following table provides a summary of the complete record of each Croatia manager's results.
- Key: Pld–games played, W–games won, D–games drawn; L–games lost, %–win percentage
| Manager | Tenure | Pld | W | D | L | Win % | Tournaments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vlatko Marković |
1993 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0.0 |  1993 Mediterranean Games – Group stage |
| Martin Novoselac |
1996 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Ivo Šušak |
1997–2013 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 25.0 | 1997 Mediterranean Games – Group stage |
| Robert Jarni |
2022 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 | — |
Last updated: Qatar A vs Croatia, 20 September 2022.
Most capped players
| Rank | Player | Caps | Goals | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Željko Pavlović | 5 | 0 | 1993 |
| Dražen Madunović | 5 | 0 | 1993 | |
| Mario Stanić | 5 | 1 | 1993 | |
| Josip Gašpar | 5 | 1 | 1993 | |
| Danijel Štefulj | 5 | 0 | 1993–1996 | |
| 2 | Zoran Ban | 4 | 0 | 1993 |
| Goran Vlaović | 4 | 1 | 1993 | |
| Ivica Mornar | 4 | 0 | 1993 | |
| Ivan Jurić | 4 | 0 | 1996–1998 | |
| Mario Cvitanović | 4 | 0 | 1996–1998 |
Last updated: Qatar A vs. Croatia, 20 September 2022
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Goals | Caps | Ratio | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Igor Cvitanović | 2 | 3 | 0.67 | 1993 |
| 2 | Andrej Kramarić | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2013 |
| Ivan Boras | 1 | 1 | 2013 | ||
| Tonio Teklić | 1 | 1 | 2022 | ||
| Josip Mitrović | 1 | 1 | 2022 | ||
| Sandro Kulenović | 1 | 1 | 2022 | ||
| Milan Rapaić | 2 | 0.5 | 1993–1996 | ||
| Davor Vugrinec | 2 | 0.5 | 1996–1998 | ||
| Mario Bazina | 2 | 0.5 | 1997 | ||
| Goran Vučević | 3 | 0.33 | 1993 | ||
| Goran Vlaović | 4 | 0.25 | 1993 | ||
| Josip Gašpar | 5 | 0.2 | 1993 | ||
| Mario Stanić | 5 | 0.2 | 1993 |
Last updated: Qatar A vs. Croatia, 20 September 2022
Most clean sheets
| Rank | Player | Clean sheets | Caps | Ratio | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nediljko Labrović | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Karlo Sentić | 1 | 1 | 2022 | ||
| Vladimir Vasilj | 3 | 0.33 | 1997–1998 |
Last updated: Qatar A vs. Croatia, 20 September 2022
Record per opponent
| Opponent | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bosnia and Herzegovina |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00 |
| Brazil |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 0.00 |
| France |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | +0 | 0.00 |
| Netherlands |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 0.00 |
| Qatar A |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 100.00 |
 Romania |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Slovenia |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 0.00 |
| Spain |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 0.00 |
| Tunisia |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0.00 |
| Turkey |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 0.00 |
| Total: 9 teams played | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 17 | −2 | 18.18 |
Last updated: Qatar vs. Croatia, 20 September 2022
See also
- Croatia men's national football team
- Croatia men's national football B team
- Croatia men's national under-21 football team
- Croatia men's national under-20 football team
- Croatia men's national under-19 football team
- Croatia men's national under-18 football team
- Croatia men's national under-17 football team
- Croatia men's national under-16 football team
- Croatia men's national under-15 football team
- Croatia women's national football team
- Croatia women's national under-19 football team
- Croatia women's national under-17 football team
Footnotes
- Kruljac 1993, p. 35.
- Pejić 1993, p. 40.
- Večernji list (a) 1993, p. 20.
- Slobodna Dalmacija (a) 1993, p. 27.
- Večernji list (b) 1993, p. 43.
- Slobodna Dalmacija (b) 1993, p. 26.
- Večernji list (c) 1993, p. 33.
- Slobodna Dalmacija (c) 1993, p. 28.
- Večernji list (d) 1993, p. 42.
- Bariša 1993, p. 28.
- Dasović 2022.
- Flak 1998, p. 30: "Tamo gdje je Ceausescuov ožiljak još svjež i dubok, gdje je dacia popularnija od mercedesa i forda, gdje je "zalutao" McDonalds, a slučajni turist traži taksi do zrakoplovne luke, hrvatska nogometna reprezentacija (igrači do 23 godine) razveselila je malobrojnu pratnju, veleposlanika, a nadasve sebe. Čak se u zrakoplovu stidljivo zapvjevalo, splitski naglasak otkrivao je Tudora, Leku i Jurića. I bilo je lijepo, na travnjaku malokad tako pametno i zrelo, nadasve disciplinirano, taktički odlično. I dovoljno za 1:0 pobjedu nad neugodnim Rumunjima. Vrijedna pobjeda, i te kako vrijedna. Pa ti su Rumunji stalno u svjetskom vrhu, a ova mlada reprezentacija je među četiri najbolje u Europi.".
- Glas Slavonije 2013.
- HNS 2013.
- Index.hr 2022.
- HNS 2022.
References
- Bariša, Mladen (23 June 1993). "Majstori bez pokrića" [Worthless experts]. Slobodna Dalmacija. Split. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- Dasović, Tomislav (7 December 2022). "Utakmica o kojoj se ne priča: 'Miki Rapaić šokirao je Brazil, a Runje je skidao bombe Robertu Carlosu! Nismo ni znali tko je taj'" [The football match nobody's talking about: 'Miki Rapaić shocked Brazil, while Runje saved the bomb shots of Roberto Carlos! We had no idea who the guy was']. Večernji list. Zagreb. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- Flak, Igor (19 March 1998). "'Nadmudrili smo ih'" ['We out smarted them']. Večernji list. No. 12391. Zagreb.
- "Francuska-Hrvatska 3:3" [France-Croatia 3:3]. Slobodna Dalmacija. Split. 23 June 1993. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- "Hrvatska oformila U-23 reprezentaciju da pomogne Kataru" [Croatia forms the U-23 team to help Qatar]. Index.hr (in Croatian). Zagreb. 18 September 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- "Hrvatska U-23 reprezentacija bolja od Katara" [The Croatian U-23 team better than Qatar]. Croatian Football Federation (in Croatian). Zagreb. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- Kruljac, Krunoslav (18 March 1993). "Premalo lijepoga" [Not beutiful enough]. Slobodna Dalmacija. Split. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
- "Lekciju održali Tunižani" [A lession from the Tunisians]. Večernji list. No. 10709. Zagreb. 18 June 1993.
- "Niko Kovač pobjedom je debitirao na klupi mlade U21 vrste Hrvatske. Danas je u Umagu, u Regionalnom kupu, pred oko petstotinjak gledatelja rezultatom 3–1 pobijeđena talentirana Italija" [Niko Kovač had a victory debut on the bench of the young Croatian U-21 team. Today in Umag, in the Regional Cup, in front of some five hundred visitors, talented Italy was defeated with a 3–1 score]. Croatian Football Federation (in Croatian). Zagreb. 7 February 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
- "Nogometna blamaža" [A football blanter]. Slobodna Dalmacija. Split. 20 June 1993. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- "Odlazak bespomoćnih" [The departure of the helpless]. Večernji list. No. 10712. Zagreb. 22 June 1993.
- Pejić, Slobodan (13 May 1993). "Slovenija-Hrvatska 1:1" [Slovenia-Croatia 1:1]. Slobodna Dalmacija. Split. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
- "Put propuštenih prigoda" [The way of the missed chances]. Večernji list. No. 10713. Zagreb. 23 June 1993.
- "Razočaranje" [Disappointment]. Slobodna Dalmacija. Split. 18 June 1993. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- "Šuškovi izgubili, U-19 vrsta remizirala" [Šušak's team lost, while U-19 tied]. Glas Slavonije. Osijek. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
- "'Veza' podbacila" [A failed 'connection']. Večernji list. No. 10622. Zagreb. 18 March 1993.
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