Croatia in the UEFA Nations League

The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The Croatia national team contests this tournament in League A, with other major footballing nations. The team entered the Nations League's inaugural 2018–19 edition in League A, along with England and Spain, in January 2018.[1][2]

Overall record

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UEFA Nations League record
Season Division Group Pld W D L GF GA P/R Rank
  2018–19 A 4 4 1 1 2 4 10   9th
  2020–21 A 3 6 1 0 5 9 16   12th
  2022–23 A 1 8 5 2 1 12 8   2nd
  2024–25 A 1 In progress
Total 18 7 3 8 25 34 Best: 2nd

2018–19 League A

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Group stage

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification[a]      
1   England 4 2 1 1 6 5 +1 7 Qualification for Nations League Finals 1–2 2–1
2   Spain 4 2 0 2 12 7 +5 6 2–3 6–0
3   Croatia 4 1 1 2 4 10 −6 4 0–0 3–2
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ Due to revamp of the format for the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, no teams were eventually relegated.
Spain  6–0  Croatia
Report

Croatia  0–0  England
Report

Croatia  3–2  Spain
Report
Attendance: 33,018[3]

England  2–1  Croatia
Report

2020–21 League A

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Group stage

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation        
1   France 6 5 1 0 12 5 +7 16 Qualification for Nations League Finals 0–0 4–2 4–2
2   Portugal 6 4 1 1 12 4 +8 13 0–1 4–1 3–0
3   Croatia 6 1 0 5 9 16 −7 3[a] 1–2 2–3 2–1
4   Sweden (R) 6 1 0 5 5 13 −8 3[a] Relegation to League B 0–1 0–2 2–1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Tied on head-to-head results. Overall goal difference was used as the tiebreaker.
Portugal  4–1  Croatia
Report

France  4–2  Croatia
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Croatia  2–1  Sweden
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Attendance: 2,020[7]

Croatia  1–2  France
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Sweden  2–1  Croatia
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Croatia  2–3  Portugal
Report

2022–23 League A

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Group stage

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation        
1   Croatia 6 4 1 1 8 6 +2 13 Qualification for Nations League Finals 2–1 1–1 0–3
2   Denmark 6 4 0 2 9 5 +4 12 0–1 2–0 2–0
3   France 6 1 2 3 5 7 −2 5 0–1 1–2 2–0
4   Austria (R) 6 1 1 4 6 10 −4 4 Relegation to League B 1–3 1–2 1–1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(R) Relegated
Croatia  0–3  Austria
Report

Croatia  1–1  France
Report
Attendance: 30,000[12]
Referee: Marco Guida (Italy)

Denmark  0–1  Croatia
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France  0–1  Croatia
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Croatia  2–1  Denmark
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Attendance: 22,715[15]
Referee: Davide Massa (Italy)

Austria  1–3  Croatia
Report

Finals

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Semi-finals
Netherlands  2–4 (a.e.t.)  Croatia
Report
Attendance: 39,359[17]
Final
Croatia  0–0 (a.e.t.)  Spain
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Penalties
4–5
Attendance: 41,110[18]

2024–25 League A

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Group stage

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation        
1   Portugal 3 3 0 0 7 3 +4 9 Advance to quarter-finals 2–1 15 Nov 2–1
2   Croatia 3 2 0 1 4 3 +1 6 18 Nov 1–0 2–1
3   Poland 3 1 0 2 4 6 −2 3 Qualification for relegation play-offs 1–3 15 Oct 18 Nov
4   Scotland 3 0 0 3 4 7 −3 0 Relegation to League B 15 Oct 15 Nov 2–3
Updated to match(es) played on 12 October 2024. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Portugal  2–1  Croatia
Report
Attendance: 57,675[19]

Croatia  1–0  Poland
Report
Attendance: 12,612[20]

Croatia  2–1  Scotland
Report
Attendance: 21,702[21]

Poland  v  Croatia
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Scotland  v  Croatia
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Croatia  v  Portugal
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List of matches

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Edition Round Opponent Score Result Venue Croatia scorers
2018–19 Group stage   Spain 0–6 L Elche
  England 0–0 D Rijeka
  Spain 3–2 W Zagreb Kramarić, Jedvaj (2)
  England 1–2 L London Kramarić
2020–21 Group stage   Portugal 1–4 L Porto Petković
  France 2–4 L Saint-Denis Lovren, Brekalo
  Sweden 2–1 W Zagreb Vlašić, Kramarić
  France 1–2 L Zagreb Vlašić
  Sweden 1–2 L Solna Danielson (o.g.)
  Portugal 2–3 L Split Kovačić (2)
2022–23 Group stage   Austria 0–3 L Osijek
  France 1–1 D Split Kramarić
  Denmark 1–0 W Copenhagen Pašalić
  France 1–0 W Saint-Denis Modrić
  Denmark 2–1 W Zagreb Sosa, Majer
  Austria 3–1 W Vienna Modrić, Livaja, Lovren
Semi-finals   Netherlands 4–2 (a.e.t.) W Rotterdam Kramarić, Pašalić, Petković, Modrić
Final   Spain 0–0 (a.e.t.)
(4–5 p)
D Rotterdam
2024–25 Group stage   Portugal 1–2 L Lisbon Dalot (o.g.)
  Poland 1–0 W Osijek Modrić
  Scotland 2–1 W Zagreb Matanović, Kramarić
  Poland TBD Warsaw
  Scotland TBD Glasgow
  Portugal TBD Split

Statistics

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Most appearances

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Rank Player Matches
1 Luka Modrić 19
2 Mateo Kovačić 18
Andrej Kramarić
4 Mario Pašalić 17
Ivan Perišić

Top goalscorers

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Rank Player Goals
1 Andrej Kramarić 6
2 Luka Modrić 4
3 Tin Jedvaj 2
Mateo Kovačić
Dejan Lovren
Mario Pašalić
Bruno Petković
Nikola Vlašić

See also

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Notes

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[note 2] [note 3]

  1. ^ The Croatia v England match was played behind closed doors due to a UEFA punishment against Croatia for racist behaviour in their UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying home match against Italy.[4]
  2. ^ a b c Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, all matches scheduled for September 2020 were played behind closed doors.[22][23]
  3. ^ a b c Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the match was played behind closed doors.

References

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  1. ^ "Sve što trebate znati o premijernom izdanju novog UEFA-ina natjecanja – Lige nacija!". Gol.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  2. ^ UEFA.com (24 January 2018). "UEFA Nations League 2018/19 League Phase draw". UEFA. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d "Summary UEFA Nations League A – Group 4". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  4. ^ "England's Nations League match in Croatia will be behind closed doors". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Portugal vs. Croatia" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 5 September 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  6. ^ "France vs. Croatia" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  7. ^ "Croatia vs. Sweden" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 11 October 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  8. ^ "Croatia vs. France" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 14 October 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  9. ^ "Sweden vs. Croatia" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 14 November 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  10. ^ "Croatia vs. Portugal" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  11. ^ "Croatia vs. Austria" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  12. ^ "Croatia vs. France" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Denmark vs. Croatia" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 10 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  14. ^ "France vs. Croatia" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 13 June 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Croatia vs. Denmark" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 22 September 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  16. ^ "Austria vs. Croatia" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 25 September 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  17. ^ "Netherlands vs. Croatia" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 14 June 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  18. ^ "Croatia vs. Spain" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 18 June 2023. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  19. ^ "Portugal vs. Croatia" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 5 September 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  20. ^ "Croatia vs. Poland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 8 September 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  21. ^ "Croatia vs. Scotland" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 12 October 2024. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  22. ^ "UEFA meets general secretaries of member associations". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  23. ^ "UEFA Super Cup to test partial return of spectators". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.