croatia national football team

The Croatian national football team has played since Croatia's independence in 1990-1992 and is controlled by the Croatian Football Federation. The team played in their first major tournament in 1996 and have been a strong force in international football ever since, finishing third in the 1998 World Cup behind Golden Boot winner Davor Šuker. Between 1990 and 2004, Croatia has played 115 international games and had 56 victories, 36 draws and 23 losses. The team has been FIFA's "Best Mover of the Year" in 1994 and 1998.

Earlier history

Football was played in Croatia from the beginning of the 20th century, but before the 1990s the country was not independent. Before that, the players from Croatia participated in the teams of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1919-1941), Independent State of Croatia (1941-1945) and Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945-1990). For the Yugoslav periods, see Yugoslavia national football team. During World War II, a Croatian Football Federation representing the rogue puppet-state of Croatia joined FIFA, and played with the teams of the Axis powers. Due to this, the first international of Croatia could be considered a 4 - 0 victory over Switzerland played in Zagreb on 4 April, 1940. In this period, the team also recorded record losses: Germany 5 - 1 Croatia in Vienna, Austria (15 June 1941) and Germany 5 - 1 Croatia in Stuttgart, Germany (1 November 1942).