Croatia U21

Nickname(s)	Mladi Vatreni (The Young Blazers)
Association	Croatian Football Federation (HNS)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Dragan Skočić
Captain	Bartol Franjić
Most caps	Luka Ivanušec (28)
Top scorer	Tomislav Bušić (13)
FIFA code	CRO
First colours Second colours
First international
Croatia 6–1 Hungary  (Zagreb, Croatia, 14 October 1992)
Biggest win
Croatia 10–0 San Marino  (Zagreb, Croatia, 8 October 2020)
Biggest defeat
Spain 6–0 Croatia  (Alicante, Spain, 10 September 2012)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	5 (first in 2000)
Best result	Quarter-finals (2021)
Website	hns-cff.hr

The Croatia national under-21 football team represents Croatia in international football matches for players 21 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 five UEFA European Under-21 Championships, namely in 2000, 2004, 2019, 2021 and 2023. Croatia was unable to pass the group stage until the 2021 Euro when it was eliminated in the quarter-finals, its greatest accomplishment in the European competition so far.

Recent results and fixtures

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  Israel

23 March 2023 (2023-03-23) Friendly	Croatia	0–0	Israel	Varaždin, Croatia
18:00 (UTC+02:00)		Report	Blorian  82'	Stadium: Stadion Varteks Referee: Toni Dadić (Croatia)

England  v  Croatia

28 March 2023 (2023-03-28) Friendly	England	1–2	Croatia	London, England
19:45 (UTC+01:00)	Lewis  33' Gibbs-White 87' (pen) Johnson  90+5'		Baturina 34' Beljo 53' (pen) Pršir  83'	Stadium: Craven Cottage

Ukraine  v  Croatia

21 June 2023 (2023-06-21) 2023 Euro Gr B	Ukraine	2–0	Croatia	Bucharest, Romania
19:00	Kashchuk 19' Sikan 48'	Report	Kačavenda  16' Stojković  82'	Stadium: Superbet Arena Referee: Mohammed Al-Hakim (SWE) Assistant referees: Fredrik Klyver (SWE) Assistant referees: Max Robin Wilde (SWE) Fourth official: Andrei Chivulete (ROU)

Spain  v  Croatia

24 June 2023 (2023-06-24) 2023 Euro Gr B	Spain	1–0	Croatia	Bucharest, Romania
21:45	Ruiz 1'	Report	Frigan  13' Šego  34' Stojković  60'	Stadium: Superbet Arena Referee: Allard Lindhout (NED) Assistant referees: Rogier Honig (NED) Assistant referees: Patrick Inia (NED) Fourth official: João Pinheiro (POR)

Croatia  v  Romania

27 June 2023 (2023-06-27) 2023 Euro Gr B	Croatia	0–0	Romania	Bucharest, Romania
21:45	Hodža  21' Sigur  34' Franjić  35' Baturina  70' Perković  86'	Report	Popescu  24'	Stadium: Stadionul Steaua Referee: João Pinheiro (POR) Assistant referees: Bruno Jesus (POR) Assistant referees: Luciano Maia (POR) Fourth official: Allard Lindhout (NED)

Faroe Islands  v  Croatia

12 September 2023 (2023-09-12) Euro 2025 qualif Gr G	Faroe Islands	2–4	Croatia	Klaksvík, Faroe Islands
	Nielsen  45' Dahl-Olsen 78', 85'	Report	Šimić 17' Hodža 44' Peković  47' Beljo 75' Sigur  83' Bukvić  88' Ljubičić 90+2'	Stadium: Við Djúpumýrar Referee: Jérémy Muller (LUX) Assistant referees: Claude Ries (LUX) Assistant referees: Rafael Morim (LUX) Fourth official: Cédric Biever (LUX)

Greece  v  Croatia

13 October 2023 (2023-10-13) Euro 2025 qualif Gr G	Greece	2–2	Croatia	Tripoli, Greece
16:00	Sourlis 11'  53' Kostis  54' Koutsias 89'	Report	Hodža 23'  32' Katinić  29' Ljubičić 67'  73'	Stadium: Theodoros Kolokotronis Stadium Attendance: 1,250 Referee: Tom Owen (WAL) Assistant referees: Johnathon Bryant (WAL) Assistant referees: Ian David Bird (WAL) Fourth official: John Andrew Jones (WAL)

Croatia  v  Belarus

17 October 2023 (2023-10-17) Euro 2025 qualif Gr G	Croatia	2–0	Belarus	Velika Gorica, Croatia
17:30	Sučić 45+1' (pen.) Baturina 55' Čavlina  82'	Report	Barkovski  41' Rylach  45+5' Baranok  60'	Stadium: Stadion Radnik Referee: Igor Stojchevski (MKD) Assistant referees: Goce Petreski (MKD) Assistant referees: Slagjan Markoski (MKD) Fourth official: Trpchevski Stojancho (MKD)

Slovakia  v  Croatia

16 November 2023 (2023-11-16) Friendly	Slovakia	2–2	Croatia	Nitra, Slovakia
	Nebyla 13' Kaprálik 41'	Report	Ljubičić 15' Ivanović 76' (pen.)	Stadium: Štadión pod Zoborom Referee: Ferenc Karakó (HUN)

Belarus  v  Croatia

20 November 2023 (2023-11-20) Euro 2025 qualif Gr G	Belarus	0–1	Croatia	Armavir, Armenia[note 1]
11:00	Maskalenchyk  20' Makarenko  45' Kovalevich  90+4'	Report	Hodža  64' Maruić  79' Ljubičić 83'	Stadium: Armavir City Stadium Attendance: 0[note 1] Referee: Peter Kralović (SVK) Assistant referees: Milan Štrbo (SVK) Assistant referees: Matej Zemko (SVK) Fourth official: Peter Ziemba (SVK)

2024

Andorra  v  Croatia

21 March 2024 (2024-03-21) Euro 2025 qualif Gr G

Andorra

v

Croatia

Portugal  v  Croatia

26 March 2024 (2024-03-26) Euro 2025 qualif Gr G

Portugal

v

Croatia

Croatia  v  Faroe Islands

5 September 2024 (2024-09-05) Euro 2025 qualif Gr G

Croatia

v

Faroe Islands

Croatia  v  Portugal

10 September 2024 (2024-09-10) Euro 2025 qualif Gr G

Croatia

v

Portugal

Croatia  v  Andorra

11 October 2024 (2024-10-11) Euro 2025 qualif Gr G

Croatia

v

Andorra

Croatia  v  Greece

15 October 2024 (2024-10-15) Euro 2025 qualif Gr G

Croatia

v

Greece

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

Position	Name[2]
Head coach	Dragan Skočić
Assistant coaches	Ante Tomić Renato Pilipović
Goalkeeping coach	Darko Staneković
Fitness coaches	Vedran Naglić Aris Naglić
Analyst	Nikola Buzadžić
Doctors	Mislav Rakić Boban Dangubić Nino Brajković
Physiotherapists	Tomislav Buljan
Technical secretary	Josip Tomaško
Kit men	Milan Vincek Luka Karlo

Players

Current squad

• The following players were called up for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification.^[3]
• Match dates: 21–26 March 2024
• Opposition:  Andorra and  Portugal
• Caps and goals correct as of: 20 November 2023, after the match against  Belarus

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Toni Silić	(2004-05-07) 7 May 2004 (age 19)	0	0	Sheriff Tiraspol
23	1GK	Nikola Čavlina	(2002-06-02) 2 June 2002 (age 21)	5	0	Lokomotiva Zagreb
	1GK	Mislav Zadro	(2003-04-22) 22 April 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Aris Limassol
	2DF	Maro Katinić	(2004-04-13) 13 April 2004 (age 19)	4	0	Sharjah
2	2DF	Dino Grozdanić	(2002-12-27) 27 December 2002 (age 21)	3	0	Asteras Tripolis
18	2DF	Moreno Živković	(2004-05-22) 22 May 2004 (age 19)	0	0	Dinamo Zagreb
8	2DF	Niko Sigur	(2003-09-09) 9 September 2003 (age 20)	6	0	Hajduk Split
13	2DF	Dominik Prpić	(2004-05-19) 19 May 2004 (age 19)	0	0	Hajduk Split
4	2DF	Mauro Perković	(2003-03-22) 22 March 2003 (age 21)	8	0	Dinamo Zagreb
3	2DF	Luka Škaričić	(2002-01-28) 28 January 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Varaždin
2	2DF	Moris Valinčić	(2002-11-17) 17 November 2002 (age 21)	1	0	Istra 1961
22	3MF	Marin Šotiček	(2004-09-18) 18 September 2004 (age 19)	0	0	Lokomotiva Zagreb
	3MF	Fabijan Krivak	(2005-02-24) 24 February 2005 (age 19)	0	0	Lokomotiva Zagreb
	3MF	Karlo Lusavec	(2003-10-30) 30 October 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Varaždin
19	3MF	Leon Belcar	(2002-01-04) 4 January 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Varaždin
11	3MF	Domagoj Bukvić	(2004-02-22) 22 February 2004 (age 20)	4	0	Osijek
6	3MF	Veldin Hodža	(2002-10-15) 15 October 2002 (age 21)	12	2	Rijeka
10	3MF	Gabriel Vidović	(2003-12-01) 1 December 2003 (age 20)	12	2	Dinamo Zagreb
20	3MF	Lovro Zvonarek	(2005-05-08) 8 May 2005 (age 18)	0	0	Bayern Munich
	3MF	Antonio Maurić	(2003-11-04) 4 November 2003 (age 20)	1	0	Istra 1961
21	4FW	Igor Matanović	(2003-03-31) 31 March 2003 (age 21)	2	1	Karlsruher SC
17	4FW	Matija Frigan	(2003-02-11) 11 February 2003 (age 21)	7	0	Westerlo
16	4FW	Ante Crnac	(2003-12-17) 17 December 2003 (age 20)	1	0	Raków Częstochowa
9	4FW	Marin Ljubičić	(2002-02-28) 28 February 2002 (age 22)	10	5	LASK
7	4FW	Stipe Biuk	(2002-12-26) 26 December 2002 (age 21)	14	2	Real Valladolid

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the squad in the last 12 months and are still eligible for selection.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Tin Sajko	(2004-03-07) 7 March 2004 (age 20)	0	0	Vukovar 1991	v.  Belarus, 17 October 2023
GK	Franko Kolić	(2003-02-07) 7 February 2003 (age 21)	0	0	Osijek	v.  Belarus, 20 November 2023
DF	Mateo Lisica	(2003-07-09) 9 July 2003 (age 20)	3	0	Istra 1961	v.  Belarus, 20 November 2023
DF	Antonio Tikvić	(2004-04-21) 21 April 2004 (age 19)	3	0	Udinese	v.  Belarus, 20 November 2023
DF	Juraj Badelj	(2003-08-24) 24 August 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Universitatea Craiova	v.  Slovakia, 16 November 2023 WD
MF	Niko Rak	(2003-07-26) 26 July 2003 (age 20)	1	0	Konyaspor	v.  Belarus, 20 November 2023
MF	Marko Soldo	(2003-11-22) 22 November 2003 (age 20)	1	0	Gorica	v.  Belarus, 20 November 2023
MF	Martin Baturina SEN	(2003-02-16) 16 February 2003 (age 21)	14	2	Dinamo Zagreb	v.  Slovakia, 16 November 2023 PRE
MF	Luka Sučić SEN	(2002-09-08) 8 September 2002 (age 21)	11	6	Red Bull Salzburg	v.  Belarus, 17 October 2023
MF	Marko Capan	(2004-02-24) 24 February 2004 (age 20)	0	0	Široki Brijeg	v.  Faroe Islands, 11 September 2023
MF	Luka Stojković INJ	(2003-10-28) 28 October 2003 (age 20)	5	0	Dinamo Zagreb	v.  Faroe Islands, 11 September 2023 WD
MF	Lukas Kačavenda INJ	(2003-03-02) 2 March 2003 (age 21)	12	1	Dinamo Zagreb	v.  Faroe Islands, 11 September 2023 WD
FW	Dion Drena Beljo	(2002-03-01) 1 March 2002 (age 22)	11	2	FC Augsburg	v.  Greece, 13 October 2023 PRE
FW	Franjo Ivanović	(2003-10-01) 1 October 2003 (age 20)	4	0	Rijeka	v.  Belarus, 20 November 2023
FW	Roko Šimić	(2003-09-10) 10 September 2003 (age 20)	19	8	Red Bull Salzburg	v.  Slovakia, 16 November 2023 WD
INJ = Injured or ill. WD = Withdrew. SUS = Suspended from participating. RET = Retired after latest call-up. SEN = Joined the Croatia senior team instead. PRE = Preliminary squad.

Competitive record

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

UEFA European Under-21 Championship

UEFA European Under-21 Championship record											Qualifications record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Manager
1978	Part of  Yugoslavia
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992	Not a UEFA member
1994	Not a UEFA member during qualifiers
1996	Did not qualify										4/6	10	5	2	3	13	12	Martin Novoselac
1998											3/5	8	4	0	4	13	9	Ivo Šušak
2000	Group stage	7/8	3	0	1	2	4	6	Squad		1/5	10	7	2	1	28	9	Ivo Šušak
2002	Did not qualify										2/4OFF	8	3	4	1	10	7	Martin Novoselac
2004	Group stage	7/8	3	0	1	2	3	5	Squad		1/4	8	4	2	2	11	5	Martin Novoselac
2006	Did not qualify										1/6OFF	12	8	1	3	16	11	Slaven Bilić
2007											3/3	2	0	0	2	2	4	Dražen Ladić
2009											2/6	10	7	1	2	20	12	Dražen Ladić
2011											1/5OFF	10	5	2	3	18	15	Dražen Ladić
2013											4/5	8	2	1	5	7	16	Ivo Šušak
2015											1/5OFF	10	6	1	3	22	9	Niko Kovač / Nenad Gračan
2017											3/6	10	6	2	2	24	11	Nenad Gračan
2019	Group stage	10/12	3	0	1	2	4	8	Squad		1/6	10	8	1	1	31	5	Nenad Gračan
2021	Quarter-finals	7/16	4	1	0	3	5	7	Squad 1 / Squad 2		2/6	10	6	2	2	37	7	Nenad Gračan/Igor Bišćan
2023	Group stage	14/16	3	0	1	2	0	3	Squad		1/6	8	6	1	1	19	7	Igor Bišćan/Dragan Skočić
2025	To be determined										3/6	4	3	1	0	9	4	Dragan Skočić
Total	Quarter-finals	5/24	16	1	4	11	16	29				137	79	23	35	276	141

Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out; correct as of 20 November 2023 after the match against  Belarus.

Matches
First match	Croatia 1–2 Netherlands  (Trnava, Slovakia; 27 May 2000)
Biggest win	Croatia 3–2 Switzerland  (Koper, Slovenia; 28 March 2021)
Biggest defeat	Romania 4–1 Croatia  (Serravalle, San Marino; 18 June 2019)

Notes

• ^OFF = Lost in play-offs.

Statistics

Managers

The following table provides a summary of the complete record of each manager including their results regarding European Under-21 Championship.

Key: Pld–games played, W–games won, D–games drawn; L–games lost, %–win percentage

Manager	Tenure	Pld	W	D	L	Win %	Tournaments
Martin Novoselac	1994–1996 2000–2004	54	19	20	15	035.2	1996 European Championship – Failed to qualify 2002 European Championship – Failed to qualify 2004 European Championship – Group stage
Ivo Šušak	1997–2000 2011–2013	38	18	6	14	047.4	1998 European Championship – Failed to qualify 2000 European Championship – Group stage 2013 European Championship – Failed to qualify
Slaven Bilić	2004–2006	20	11	3	6	055.0	2006 European Championship – Play-offs
Aljoša Asanović (c)	2005	1	0	0	1	000.0	2006 European Championship – Failed to qualify[4]
Ivica Grnja (c)	2005	1	0	0	1	000.0	2006 European Championship – Failed to qualify[5]
Marijan Brnčić (c)[6]	2005	1	0	1	0	000.0	—
Dražen Ladić	2006–2011	32	20	6	6	062.50	2007 European Championship – Failed to qualify 2009 European Championship – Failed to qualify 2011 European Championship – Failed to qualify
Niko Kovač	2013	7	5	0	2	071.4	—
Nenad Gračan	2013–2019	41	21	9	11	051.2	2015 European Championship – Failed to qualify 2017 European Championship – Failed to qualify 2019 European Championship – Group stage
Igor Bišćan	2019–2023	30	18	5	7	060.0	2021 European Championship – Quarter-finals
Dragan Skočić	2023–	8	3	3	2	037.5	2023 European Championship – Group stage

Last updated: Croatia vs Belarus, 20 November 2023. Statistics include official FIFA-recognised matches only.

Most capped players

Players in bold are still active with Croatia.

Last updated: Belarus vs Croatia, 20 November 2023

Source: Croatian Football Federation

Top goalscorers

Players in bold are still active with Croatia.

Last updated: Belarus vs Croatia, 20 November 2023

Source: Croatian Football Federation

Record per opponent

Croatia under-21 results

Summary 1992–1999 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–present

Correct as of 20 November 2023, after the match against  Belarus.

Opponent	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Albania	2	1	0	1	4	1	+3	050.00
Australia U23	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3	000.00
Austria	4	1	3	0	5	3	+2	025.00
Azerbaijan	4	4	0	0	11	3	+8	100.00
Belarus	5	4	1	0	11	1	+10	080.00
Belgium	4	2	1	1	5	3	+2	050.00
Bosnia and Herzegovina	9	4	3	2	19	14	+5	044.44
Bulgaria	6	2	1	3	6	6	+0	033.33
Chile U23	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Czech Republic	7	1	3	3	11	10	+1	014.29
Cyprus	2	1	0	1	2	3	−1	050.00
Denmark	6	4	0	2	8	5	+3	066.67
England	7	3	1	3	12	10	+2	042.86
Estonia	10	9	1	0	23	3	+20	090.00
Faroe Islands	3	3	0	0	8	3	+5	100.00
Finland	2	1	0	1	4	3	+1	050.00
France	5	0	1	4	3	8	−5	000.00
Georgia	4	1	2	1	4	4	+0	025.00
Germany	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100.00
Greece	11	6	3	2	22	13	+9	054.55
Hungary	12	7	4	1	30	14	+16	058.33
Iceland	2	2	0	0	4	2	+2	100.00
Republic of Ireland	2	1	1	0	7	3	+4	050.00
Israel	5	0	2	3	0	5	−5	000.00
Italy	8	1	4	3	7	10	−3	012.50
Italy B	2	0	2	0	1	1	+0	000.00
Latvia	4	3	1	0	9	4	+5	075.00
Liechtenstein	2	2	0	0	9	0	+9	100.00
Lithuania	4	4	0	0	13	1	+12	100.00
FYR Macedonia	4	3	1	0	8	1	+7	075.00
Malta	4	4	0	0	6	0	+6	100.00
Mexico	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Moldova	2	2	0	0	7	0	+7	100.00
Montenegro	3	1	2	0	4	2	+2	033.33
Morocco U20	1	0	0	1	0	4	−4	000.00
Netherlands	2	1	0	1	4	4	+0	050.00
Norway	5	4	0	1	15	7	+8	080.00
Poland	3	1	2	0	4	2	+2	033.33
Portugal	4	1	0	3	3	5	−2	025.00
Romania	2	0	1	1	1	4	−3	000.00
Russia	1	0	0	1	3	4	−1	000.00
San Marino	6	6	0	0	33	0	+33	100.00
Scotland	6	2	2	2	9	7	+2	033.33
Serbia	2	1	1	0	5	3	+2	050.00
Serbia and Montenegro	5	1	1	3	12	12	+0	020.00
Slovakia	8	3	3	2	14	11	+3	037.50
Slovenia	11	6	1	4	20	13	+7	054.55
Spain	9	1	1	7	7	19	−12	011.11
Sweden	6	3	1	2	9	7	+2	050.00
Switzerland	5	2	0	3	6	10	−4	040.00
Togo U23	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
Turkey	1	0	1	0	0	0	+0	000.00
Ukraine	7	2	2	3	7	8	−1	028.57
United Arab Emirates U23	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100.00
Total: 54 teams played	235	114	53	68	421	261	+160	048.51

Source: Croatian Football Federation