Croatia national under-20 football team

Croatia U20

Nickname(s)	Mladi Vatreni (The Young Blazers)
Association	Croatian Football Federation (HNS)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Mladen Ivančić Sergej Milivojević
Most caps	Alen Maras (14)
Top scorer	Ahmad Sharbini (7)
FIFA code	CRO
First colours Second colours
First international
Slovenia 0–1 Croatia   (Brežice, Slovenia; 22 September 1994)
Biggest win
Hungary 0–6 Croatia   (Hungary; 5 September 1995)   Croatia 6-0 Italy   (Umag, Croatia; 15 March 2006)
Biggest defeat
Brazil 4–0 Croatia   (Calabar, Nigeria; 14 April 1999)   Slovenia 4–0 Croatia   (Brežice, Slovenia; 4 April 2006)   Croatia 0–4 Serbia   (Županja, Croatia; 22 May 2012)
FIFA U-20 World Cup
Appearances	3 (first in 1999 )
Best result	Round of 16 (1999, 2013)
Website	hns-cff.hr

The Croatia national under-20 football team represents Croatia in international football matches for players aged 20 or under. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Croatia. It is a member of UEFA in Europe and FIFA in global competitions. The team's colours reference two national symbols: the Croatian checkerboard and the country's tricolour. They are colloquially referred to as the Mladi vatreni ('Young Blazers'). So far, the Mladi vatreni qualified for three FIFA U-20 World Cups, namely in 1999, 2011 and 2013. The team's greatest accomplishment is passing the group stage at the 1999 and 2013 tournaments.

The U20 team is the de facto U19 of the previous year, and it acts mainly as a feeder team for the U21s and provides further international development for youth players. The team qualifies for the FIFA U-20 World Cup based on the success of the U19 at the UEFA European Under-19 Championship.

History

The U20 national team was formed in 1994. The first match was played against the team of Austrian region Styria, and the first match against FIFA member was against Italy on 8 February 1995.

Croatia managed to qualify for 1999 FIFA U-20 World Cup. That was the second appearance from the Croatian football team in the FIFA competition, after A team appeared on FIFA World Cup in France in 1998. They passed the group, then lost to Brazil by 4–0 in Round of 16.

On 24 July 2010, after trashing Portugal 5–0 in 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championship group game, Croatia qualified for the semi-final. Also, it secured a spot in 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia.

Another good performance by the U19 team at 2012 championship saw Croatia qualifying for the World Cup, this time held in Turkey in 2013.

Recent results

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win  Draw  Loss  Fixture

2023

Croatia   v   China

1 June 2023 (2023-06-01) Friendly	Croatia	1–1	China	Velika Gorica, Croatia
	Ševelj 90+2'	Report	Zhu Qiwen 69'	Stadium: Stadion Radnik

Croatia   v   China

3 June 2023 (2023-06-03) Friendly	Croatia	4–1	China	Velika Gorica, Croatia
17:30	Šego 54' Barišić 68' Bušnja 82', 86'	Report	Zhu Yue 90+4'	Stadium: Stadion Radnik

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Ognjen Vukojević
Assistant coaches	Mato Neretljak Mario Carević
Goalkeeping coach	Marjan Mrmić
Fitness coach	Ivan Krakan
Physiotherapists	Ivan Halambek
Doctors	Goran Madžarac
Chief instructor	Petar Krpan
Team manager	Denis Lukša

Current squad

The following is the squad named for friendly matches against China played on 1 and 3 June 2023. ^[1]

Caps and goals as of 3 June 2023, after the match against China.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1 GK	Franko Kolić	(2003-02-07) 7 February 2003 (age 22)	4	0	Posušje
	1 GK	Mislav Zadro	(2003-04-22) 22 April 2003 (age 22)	2	0	Aris Limassol
	1 GK	Filip Kovačević	(2002-03-22) 22 March 2002 (age 23)	1	0	Cibalia
	2 DF	Mateo Lisica	(2003-07-09) 9 July 2003 (age 22)	2	0	Istra 1961
	2 DF	Moris Valinčić	(2002-11-17) 17 November 2002 (age 22)	2	0	Istra 1961
	2 DF	Vicko Ševelj	(2000-09-19) 19 September 2000 (age 24)	5	1	Radomlje
	2 DF	Roko Jureškin	(2000-09-29) 29 September 2000 (age 24)	5	0	Pisa
	2 DF	Krešimir Krizmanić	(2000-07-03) 3 July 2000 (age 25)	2	0	Gorica
	2 DF	Maro Katinić	(2004-04-13) 13 April 2004 (age 21)	1	0	Bravo
	2 DF	Ivan Smolčić	(2000-08-17) 17 August 2000 (age 24)	2	0	Rijeka
	2 DF	Niko Galešić	(2001-03-26) 26 March 2001 (age 24)	6	0	Rijeka
	2 DF	Luka Jelenić	(2000-05-24) 24 May 2000 (age 25)	1	0	Varaždin
	2 DF	Nikola Soldo	(2001-01-25) 25 January 2001 (age 24)	2	0	1. FC Kaiserslautern
	3 MF	Ante Palaversa	(2000-04-06) 6 April 2000 (age 25)	4	0	Troyes
	3 MF	Ivan Ćubelić	(2003-06-02) 2 June 2003 (age 22)	1	0	Hajduk Split
	3 MF	Luka Stojković	(2003-10-28) 28 October 2003 (age 21)	4	1	Dinamo Zagreb
	3 MF	Adrian Liber	(2001-01-09) 9 January 2001 (age 24)	4	0	Rijeka
	3 MF	Leon Belcar	(2002-01-04) 4 January 2002 (age 23)	6	0	Varaždin
	3 MF	Niko Janković	(2001-08-25) 25 August 2001 (age 23)	1	0	Rijeka
	4 FW	Silvio Goričan	(2000-02-27) 27 February 2000 (age 25)	3	0	Lokomotiva Zagreb
	4 FW	Ante Crnac	(2003-12-17) 17 December 2003 (age 21)	3	0	Raków Częstochowa
	4 FW	Karlo Špeljak	(2003-03-14) 14 March 2003 (age 22)	5	0	Celje
	4 FW	Bartol Barišić	(2003-01-01) 1 January 2003 (age 22)	5	0	DAC Dunajská Streda
	4 FW	Michele Šego	(2000-08-05) 5 August 2000 (age 24)	8	1	Varaždin
	4 FW	Denis Bušnja	(2000-04-14) 14 April 2000 (age 25)	4	2	Rijeka

Competitive record

  Winners    Runners-up    Third place     Tournament hosted

Croatian under-20 team played most of its matches competing in a regional cup called Mirop Cup, also known as Cup Alpe-Adria, with groups of Slovenia, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and teams of some Austrian and Hungarian regions. Croatia won that cup three times in a row, in 1994, 1995 and 1996, and ever after.

FIFA U-20 World Cup

FIFA U-20 World Cup											Qualification
Year	Host	Round	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Squad		Pos.	Pld	W	D	L	F	A
1977 to 1991		Part of Yugoslavia									Part of Yugoslavia
1993	Australia	Not a UEFA member									Not a UEFA member
1995	Qatar	Did not qualify									See Croatia national under-19 football team
1997	Malaysia
1999	Nigeria	Round of 16	4	1	2	1	6	6	Squad
2001	Argentina	Did not qualify
2003	United Arab Emirates
2005	Netherlands
2007	Canada
2009	Egypt
2011	Colombia	Group stage	3	0	0	3	2	8	Squad
2013	Turkey	Round of 16	4	2	1	1	4	4	Squad
2015	New Zealand	Did not qualify
2017	South Korea
2019	Poland
2021	Indonesia	Cancelled
2023	Argentina	Did not qualify
2025	Chile
Total		Round of 16	11	3	3	5	12	18	—

See also

• Croatia national football team
• Croatia national football B team
• Croatia national under-23 football team
• Croatia national under-21 football team
• Croatia national under-19 football team
• Croatia national under-18 football team
• Croatia national under-17 football team
• Croatia national under-16 football team
• Croatia 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
• Croatia women's national under-15 football team

References

1. "Hrvatska U-20 dva puta protiv Kine, u utorak protiv selekcije Utakmice života". Croatian Football Federation (in Croatian). Zagreb. 1 June 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.

Head-to-head record

The following table shows Croatia's head-to-head record in the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Opponent	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Argentina	1	0	1	0	0	0	+0	000.00
Brazil	1	0	0	1	0	4	−4	000.00
Chile	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	000.00
Ghana	1	0	1	0	1	1	+0	000.00
Guatemala	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Kazakhstan	1	1	0	0	5	1	+4	100.00
New Zealand	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100.00
Nigeria	1	0	0	1	2	5	−3	000.00
Saudi Arabia	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	000.00
Uruguay	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
Uzbekistan	1	0	1	0	1	1	+0	000.00
Total	11	3	3	5	12	18	−6	027.27