Croatia national under-23 football team

Croatia U23

Nickname(s)	Mladi Vatreni (The Young Blazers)
Association	Croatian Football Federation (HNS)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Ognjen Vukojević
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 colours Second colours
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 international men's football matches for players aged 23 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. Although the team never competed 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 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.^{[ citation needed ]} 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.^{[ citation needed ]}

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 cancelled the match.^{[ citation needed ]} 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.^{[ citation needed ]} Qatar senior team played a return match against Croatia on 8 June 2023, in Vorau, with Croatia winning 0–1. The Croatian team was led by Ognjen Vukojević.^{[ citation needed ]}

Results

Croatia   v   Slovenia

17 March 1993 (1993-03-17) Friendly	Croatia	1–1	Slovenia	Varaždin, Croatia
15:15	Cvitanović 6'	Report	Marušič 67'	Stadium: Stadion Varteks Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Lajos Hartmann (Hungary)

Slovenia   v   Croatia

12 May 1993 (1993-05-12) Friendly	Slovenia	1–1	Croatia	Maribor, Slovenia
16:30	Pavlin 25'	Report	Stanić 12' Madunović  70' Pinturić  78' Štefulj  82'	Stadium: Ljudski vrt Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Ladislav Gádoši (Slovakia)

Croatia   v   Tunisia

17 June 1993 (1993-06-17) 1993 Mediterranean Games Gr B	Croatia	0–2	Tunisia	Alès, France
20:00	Jozinović  38' Težački  78'	Report	Baya 57' Selimi 86'	Stadium: Stade Pierre Pibarot Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Giorgos Bikas (Greece)

Croatia   v   Turkey

19 June 1993 (1993-06-19) 1993 Mediterranean Games Gr B	Croatia	2–3	Turkey	Sète, France
	Gašpar 56' Okuroğlu 81' (o.g.)	Report	Erdem 25' Yalçın 40', 62'	Stadium: Stade Louis-Michel Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Merzak Nems (Algeria)

France   v   Croatia

21 June 1993 (1993-06-21) 1993 Mediterranean Games Gr B	France	3–3	Croatia	Alès, France
	Nouma 11', 64' (pen.) Zidane 79'	Report	Vlaović 33' Vučević 49' Cvitanović 52'	Stadium: Stade Pierre Pibarot Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Salem Prolić (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Brazil   v   Croatia

22 May 1996 (1996-05-22) Friendly	Brazil	1–1	Croatia	Manaus, Brazil
17:00	Sávio 48'	Report	Rapaić 36'	Stadium: Vivaldão Attendance: 43,825

Croatia   v   Bosnia and Herzegovina

17 June 1997 (1997-06-17) 1997 Mediterranean Games Gr D	Croatia	0–1	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Brindisi, Italy
		Report	Topić 40'	Stadium: Stadio Franco Fanuzzi Referee: Graziano Cesari (Italy)

Croatia   v   Spain

21 June 1997 (1997-06-21) 1997 Mediterranean Games Gr D	Croatia	1–2	Spain	Lecce, Italy
	Bazina 19' Jurić  29' Žilić Kosić	Report	Ballesteros 7', 57' Guréndez	Stadium: Stadio Via del Mare Attendance: 150 Referee: Pascal Garibian (France)

Romania   v   Croatia

17 March 1998 (1998-03-17) Friendly	Romania	0–1	Croatia	Bucharest, Romania
		Report	Vugrinec	Stadium: Stadionul Național

Croatia   v   Netherlands

5 February 2013 (2013-02-05) Friendly	Croatia	2–3	Netherlands	Pula, Croatia
15:00	Kramarić 7' Boras 90+1'	Report	de Jong 50' Locadia 66' Vilhena 80'	Stadium: Stadion Veruda Referee: Darko Čeferin (Slovenia) Assistant referees: Andrej Kokolj (Slovenia) Assistant referees: Jure Prapotnik (Slovenia) Fourth official: Marin Vidulin (Croatia)

Qatar A   v   Croatia

20 September 2022 (2022-09-20) Friendly	Qatar A	0–3	Croatia	Wiener Neustadt, Austria
16:00 UTC		Report	Teklić 14' (pen.) Mitrović 16' Kulenović 87'	Stadium: Stadion Wiener Neustadt Referee: Stevan Radenkovic (Austria)

Qatar A   v   Croatia

8 June 2023 (2023-06-08) Friendly	Qatar A	0–1	Croatia	Vorau, Austria
18:00 UTC	Shehata  34'	Report	Goda  36' Bušnja  63' Matanović 79'	Stadium: Ukraft Arena Referee: Alexander Harkam (Austria)

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Ognjen Vukojević

Players

Last squad

The following players were named in the squad for a friendly against Qatar A on 8 June 2023. ^[16]

Caps and goals as of 8 June 2023, after the match against Qatar A.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1 GK	Lovro Majkić	(1999-10-08) 8 October 1999 (age 24)	1	0	Istra
12	1 GK	Dinko Horkaš	(1999-03-10) 10 March 1999 (age 25)	1	0	Lokomotiv Plovdiv
2	2 DF	Luka Hujber	(1999-06-16) 16 June 1999 (age 24)	1	0	Istra
3	2 DF	Bruno Goda	(1998-04-17) 17 April 1998 (age 25)	1	0	Rijeka
4	2 DF	Branimir Kalaica	(1998-06-01) 1 June 1998 (age 25)	1	0	Lokomotiva
5	2 DF	Vinko Soldo	(1998-02-15) 15 February 1998 (age 26)	1	0	Sarajevo
13	2 DF	Matej Maglica	(1998-09-25) 25 September 1998 (age 25)	1	0	Darmstadt 98
14	2 DF	Ivan Smolčić	(2000-08-17) 17 August 2000 (age 23)	1	0	Rijeka
15	2 DF	Jozo Stanić	(1999-04-06) 6 April 1999 (age 25)	2	0	St. Gallen
6	3 MF	Mario Ćurić	(1998-09-28) 28 September 1998 (age 25)	1	0	Torpedo Moscow
8	3 MF	Neven Đurasek	(1998-08-15) 15 August 1998 (age 25)	1	0	Aris
10	3 MF	Tonio Teklić	(1999-09-09) 9 September 1999 (age 24)	2	1	Karagümrük
16	3 MF	Mario Čuić	(2001-04-22) 22 April 2001 (age 22)	1	0	Istra
18	3 MF	Leon Belcar	(2002-01-04) 4 January 2002 (age 22)	1	0	Varaždin
7	4 FW	Kristian Fućak	(1998-11-14) 14 November 1998 (age 25)	1	0	Osijek
9	4 FW	Sandro Kulenović	(1999-12-04) 4 December 1999 (age 24)	2	1	Dinamo Zagreb
11	4 FW	Mario Ćuže	(1999-04-24) 24 April 1999 (age 24)	1	0	Zrinjski
17	4 FW	Denis Bušnja	(2000-04-14) 14 April 2000 (age 23)	1	0	Pathum United
19	4 FW	Igor Matanović	(2003-03-31) 31 March 2003 (age 21)	1	1	Karlsruher SC

Competitive record

 Champions  
 Runners-up  
 Third place  
 Fourth place  
  Tournament played fully or partially on home soil  

Olympic Games

Summer Olympic Games record											Qualifications record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Squad
1896	Part of  Austria-Hungary
1900
1904
1908
1912
1920	Part of  Kingdom of Yugoslavia
1924
1928
1936
1948	Part of  Yugoslavia
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
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																	2024
2028	To be determined																2028
2032																	2032
Total	0/29

Matches
First match	—
Biggest win	—
Biggest defeat	—

Mediterranean Games

Since Croatia's independence, Croatia's U23 football team participated in two Mediterranean Games: 1993 and 1997. The next 2001 Mediterranean Games were limited to U21 teams, while the 2005 Mediterranean Games were set for the U23 teams, even though none of the players who participated were older than 21. The 2009 Mediterranean Games were limited to U20 teams, while the 2013 Games pushed the limit to U19 teams. Since 2018, the Mediterranean Games have invited U18, U19 and U21 teams, though, only U18 teams participated ever since. No Croatian team participated in the Mediterranean Games after 1997.

Mediterranean Games record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Squad
1951	Part of   Yugoslavia
1955
1959
1963
1967
1971
1975
1979
1983
1987
1991
1993	Group stage	10/10	3	0	1	2	5	8	1993
1997	Group stage	10/13	2	0	0	2	1	3	1997
Total	Group stage	2/13	5	0	1	4	6	11	Total

Correct as of 21 June 1997 after the match against   Spain.

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

Vlatko Marković was the first coach of Croatia's U23 national team

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	000.0	1993 Mediterranean Games  – Group stage
Martin Novoselac	1996	1	0	1	0	000.0	—
Ivo Šušak	1997–2013	4	1	0	3	025.0	1997 Mediterranean Games  – Group stage
Robert Jarni	2022	1	1	0	0	100.0	—
Ognjen Vukojević	2023	1	1	0	0	100.0	—

Last updated: Qatar A vs Croatia, 8 June 2023.

Most capped players

Mario Stanić (pictured), Željko Pavlović, Dražen Madunović, Josip Gašpar, and Danijel Štefulj are the most capped players for Croatia's U23 team, each playing three matches

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Željko Pavlović	5	0	1993
	Dražen Madunović		0	1993
	Mario Stanić		1	1993
	Josip Gašpar		1	1993
	Danijel Štefulj		0	1993–1996
2	Zoran Ban	4	0	1993
	Goran Vlaović		1	1993
	Ivica Mornar		0	1993
	Ivan Jurić		0	1996–1998
	Mario Cvitanović		0	1996–1998

Last updated: Qatar A vs. Croatia, 8 June 2023

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
	Josip Mitrović		1	1	2022
	Igor Matanović		1	1	2023
	Milan Rapaić		2	0.5	1993–1996
	Davor Vugrinec		2	0.5	1996–1998
	Mario Bazina		2	0.5	1997
	Tonio Teklić		2	0.5	2022–2023
	Sandro Kulenović		2	0.5	2022–2023
	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, 8 June 2023

Most clean sheets

Rank	Player	Clean sheets	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Nediljko Labrović	1	1	1	2022
	Karlo Sentić		1	1	2022
	Lovro Majkić		1	1	2023
	Dinko Horkaš		1	1	2023
	Vladimir Vasilj		3	0.33	1997–1998

Last updated: Qatar A vs. Croatia, 8 June 2023

Record per opponent

Key

  More wins than losses

  As many wins as losses

  Fewer wins than losses

Correct as of 8 June 2023, after the match against   Qatar A.

Opponent	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Brazil	1	0	1	0	1	1	+0	000.00
France	1	0	1	0	3	3	+0	000.00
Netherlands	1	0	0	1	2	3	−1	000.00
Qatar A	2	2	0	0	4	0	+4	100.00
Romania	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
Slovenia	2	0	2	0	2	2	+0	000.00
Spain	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Tunisia	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	000.00
Turkey	1	0	0	1	2	3	−1	000.00
Total: 9 teams played	12	3	4	5	16	17	−1	025.00

See also

• Croatia national football team
• Croatia national football B team
• Croatia national under-21 football team
• Croatia national under-20 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

Footnotes

1. Kruljac 1993, p. 35.
2. Pejić 1993, p. 40.
3. Večernji list (a) 1993, p. 20.
4. Slobodna Dalmacija (a) 1993, p. 27.
5. Večernji list (b) 1993, p. 43.
6. Slobodna Dalmacija (b) 1993, p. 26.
7. Večernji list (c) 1993, p. 33.
8. Slobodna Dalmacija (c) 1993, p. 28.
9. Večernji list (d) 1993, p. 42.
10. Bariša 1993, p. 28.
11. Dasović 2022.
12. 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.".
13. Glas Slavonije 2013.
14. HNS 2013.
15. Index.hr 2022.
16. HNS 2023.

References

• Bariša, Mladen (23 June 1993). "Majstori bez pokrića" [Worthless experts]. Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). 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 (in Croatian). Zagreb. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
• Flak, Igor (19 March 1998). "'Nadmudrili smo ih'" ['We out smarted them']. Večernji list (in Croatian). No. 12391. Zagreb.
• "Francuska-Hrvatska 3:3" [France-Croatia 3:3]. Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). 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 beautiful enough]. Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). Split. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
• "Lekciju održali Tunižani" [A lession from the Tunisians]. Večernji list (in Croatian). 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 (in Croatian). Split. 20 June 1993. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
• "Odlazak bespomoćnih" [The departure of the helpless]. Večernji list (in Croatian). No. 10712. Zagreb. 22 June 1993.
• "Ognjen Vukojević objavio popis igrača za utakmicu s Katarom u Vorauu" [Ognjen Vukojević published the list of players for a match against Qatar in Vorau]. Croatian Football Federation (in Croatian). Zagreb. 7 June 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
• Pejić, Slobodan (13 May 1993). "Slovenija-Hrvatska 1:1" [Slovenia-Croatia 1:1]. Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). Split. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
• "Put propuštenih prigoda" [The way of the missed chances]. Večernji list (in Croatian). No. 10713. Zagreb. 23 June 1993.
• "Razočaranje" [Disappointment]. Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). Split. 18 June 1993. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
• "Šuškovi izgubili, U-19 vrsta remizirala" [Šušak's team lost, while U-19 tied]. Glas Slavonije (in Croatian). Osijek. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
• "'Veza' podbacila" [A failed 'connection']. Večernji list (in Croatian). No. 10622. Zagreb. 18 March 1993.