Croatia under-20

Nickname(s)	Mali vatreni
Association	Croatian Football Federation
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Ognjen Vukojević
Captain	Ante Palaversa
Top scorer	Domagoj Abramović (6)
FIFA code	CRO
First colours Second colours
First international
Croatia 1–1 Italy  (Poreč, Croatia; 8 February 1995)
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)
FIFA U-20 World Cup
Appearances	3 (first in 1999)
Best result	Round of 16, 1999 & 2013

The Croatia national under-20 football team is the national under-20 football team of Croatia and is controlled by the Croatian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Croatia.

History

The U20 team is the de facto under-19 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 qualified for its only official match, FIFA U-20 World Cup, depends on U19 result.

Under-20 national team of Croatia was formed in 1994. First match was played against team of Austrian region Styria, and 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 second appearance from Croatian football team on FIFA competition, after A-team appeared on FIFA World Cup in France in 1998. They passed the group, and 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 to semi-final and also secured spot in 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia.

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

Competitive record

Croatian under-20 team played most of its matches competing in regional cup called Mirop Cup, also known as Cup Alpe-Adria, with teams 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 bever after.

FIFA U-20 World Cup record

FIFA U-20 World Cup record											Qualifications record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	Year
1977	Part of  Yugoslavia
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993	Not a FIFA member
1995	Did not qualify										UEFA European Under-19 Championship						1994
1997																	1996
1999	Round of 16	14/24	4	1	2	1	6	6	1999								1998
2001	Did not qualify																2000
2003																	2002
2005																	2004
2007																	2006
2009																	2008
2011	Group stage	23/24	3	0	0	3	2	8	2011								2010
2013	Round of 16	11/24	4	2	1	1	4	4	2013								2012
2015	Did not qualify																2014
2017																	2016
2019																	2018
2023																	2022
Total	Round of 16	3/23	11	3	3	5	12	18

Matches
First match	Ghana 1–1 Croatia  (Kaduna, Nigeria; 4 April 1999)
Biggest win	Croatia 5–1 Kazakhstan  (Kaduna, Nigeria; 7 April 1999)
Biggest defeat	Brazil 4–0 Croatia  (Calabar, Nigeria; 14 April 1999)

Current squad

• The following players were called up for the friendly match.^[1]
• Match dates: 1 June 2022
• Opposition:  Czech Republic
• Caps and goals correct as of: 23 March 2022, after the match against  Japan

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Franko Kolić	(2003-02-07) 7 February 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Osijek
	1GK	Mislav Zadro	(2003-04-22) 22 April 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Dinamo Zagreb
	2DF	Dominikm Braun	(2003-12-03) 3 December 2003 (age 19)	0	0	Dinamo Zagreb
	2DF	Filip Braut	(2002-06-05) 5 June 2002 (age 20)	0	0	NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac
	2DF	Ivan Cvijanović	(2003-10-09) 9 October 2003 (age 19)	0	0	Osijek
	2DF	Marko Novak-Stanko	(2003-06-13) 13 June 2003 (age 19)	0	0	Dinamo Zagreb
	2DF	Novak Tepšić	(2002-03-16) 16 March 2002 (age 21)	0	0	Slaven Belupo
	2DF	Luka Tomljenović	(2003-01-07) 7 January 2003 (age 20)	0	0	VfL Wolfsburg
	2DF	Fran Žilinski	(2003-04-04) 4 April 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Lokomotiva Zagreb
	3MF	Leon Belcar	(2002-01-04) 4 January 2002 (age 21)	2	1	Varaždin
	3MF	Tomislav Duvnjak	(2003-02-05) 5 February 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Dinamo Zagreb
	3MF	Karlo Lusavec	(2003-10-30) 30 October 2003 (age 19)	0	0	Varaždin
	3MF	Ivan Šaranić	(2003-05-12) 12 May 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Dinamo Zagreb
	3MF	Marko Soldo	(2003-11-22) 22 November 2003 (age 19)	0	0	Dinamo Zagreb
	4FW	Bartol Barišić	(2003-01-01) 1 January 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Dinamo Zagreb
	4FW	Luka Branšteter	(2002-06-19) 19 June 2002 (age 20)	0	0	Aluminij
	4FW	Niko Domjanić	(2003-02-19) 19 February 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Varaždin
	4FW	Matija Frigan	(2003-02-11) 11 February 2003 (age 20)	0	0	NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac
	4FW	Marin Ljubičić	(2002-02-28) 28 February 2002 (age 21)	0	0	Hajduk Split
	4FW	Carlo Mateković	(2003-09-01) 1 September 2003 (age 19)	0	0	Dinamo Zagreb
	4FW	Karlo Špeljak	(2003-03-14) 14 March 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Lokomotiva Zagreb

Previous squads

FIFA U-20 World Cup

• 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship squad
• 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup squad
• 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup squad