The Story of “The Dark Horse” Croatia in The World Cup Part 1

The Croatian national football team was part of the Yugoslav national football team before the independence of Croatia in 1992, after which the new federation was established and joined by FIFA and the European Football Association.

Thus, Croatia's first ever participation in the World Cup was in 1998.

World Cup 1998

It is the sixteenth World Cup, which was held in France from June 10 to July 12, 1998, and France was chosen to organize the tournament on July 2, 1992, in the Swiss city of Zurich, after a competition with Morocco and the withdrawal of Switzerland from the race.

The draw placed Croatia in Group H along with Argentina, Jamaica, and Japan.

Croatia opened its group stage matches on June 14 at the Polar Douli Stadium in Lens, facing Jamaica.

In front of more than 30,000 spectators, the Portuguese international referee Milo Ferreira blew his whistle, announcing the start of the match.

In the 27th minute, Mario Stanic, then Parma player, opened the scoring for Croatia, before Robbie Earl scored the equalizer for Jamaica in the 45th minute.

In the second half, the Croatian team managed to win the match 3-1, after Robert Prosinečki scored the second goal, and Real Madrid player at the time Davor Šuker scored the third goal.

In the second match, Croatia faced Japan, on June 20, at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes.

The Croatian team managed to win that match 1-0, and Davor Šuker scored the goal in the 77th minute.

Croatia concluded its group stage matches against Argentina after the two teams managed to collect 6 points from two victories over Jamaica and Japan, the confrontation between them was in order to determine the leader of the group.

At the Chaban Dalmas stadium in Bordeaux, the Croatian team received its first defeat in the tournament with a goal to nil, scored by Argentine defender Mauricio Pineda in the 36th minute.

But this loss did not prevent Croatia from qualifying for the second round for the first time in its history.

We remain at the Chaban Dalmas stadium in Bordeaux, France, where the Croatian national team faced its Romanian counterpart on June 30.

The Croatian team managed to win that match 1-0, with a goal scored by the feat striker Davor Šuker at the 45+2 minute from the penalty spot.

Thus, Croatia qualified for the quarterfinals for the first time in its history as well.

In the quarterfinals, the Croatian national team stunned the entire world, defeating Germany 3-0.

At Gerland Stadium in the French city of Lyon, the Croatian team was able to sweep the Germans with performance and result and qualify for the semi-finals, in what was described as the biggest surprise of the tournament.

The goals of Croatia were scored by Robert Yarni in the 45 +2 minute, Goran Vlavovic in the 80th minute, and Davor Šuker in the 85th minute.

In the semi-finals, the Croatian dream stopped at the hands of France, when France won 2-1, although it was the Croatian team who opened the scoring through Davor Šuker.

The Croatian national team managed to beat the Netherlands in the ranking match 2-1, achieving third place and the bronze medal in the first participation of the Croatian team in the World Cup, and it deservedly deserved the title of "Dark Horse".