Croatia national under-20 football team
The Croatia national under-20 football team represents Croatia in international football matches for players 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.
| Nickname(s) | Mladi Vatreni (The Young Blazers) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Croatian Football Federation (HNS) | ||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach | Mladen IvančićSergej Milivojević | ||
| Most caps | Alen Maras (14) | ||
| Top scorer | Ahmad Sharbini (7) | ||
| FIFA code | CRO | ||
| |||
| 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 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
2023
| 1 June 2023 Friendly | Croatia | 1–1 |  China | Velika Gorica, Croatia |
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Report |
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Stadium: Stadion Radnik |
| 3 June 2023 Friendly | Croatia | 4–1 | China | Velika Gorica, Croatia |
| 17:30 | Report |
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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]
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Franko Kolić | 7 February 2003 | 4 | 0 |  Posušje | |
| GK | Mislav Zadro | 22 April 2003 | 2 | 0 |  Aris Limassol | |
| GK | Filip Kovačević | 22 March 2002 | 1 | 0 | Cibalia | |
| DF | Mateo Lisica | 9 July 2003 | 2 | 0 | Istra 1961 | |
| DF | Moris Valinčić | 17 November 2002 | 2 | 0 | Istra 1961 | |
| DF | Vicko Ševelj | 19 September 2000 | 5 | 1 | Radomlje | |
| DF | Roko Jureškin | 29 September 2000 | 5 | 0 | Pisa | |
| DF | Krešimir Krizmanić | 3 July 2000 | 2 | 0 | Gorica | |
| DF | Maro Katinić | 13 April 2004 | 1 | 0 | Bravo | |
| DF | Ivan Smolčić | 17 August 2000 | 2 | 0 | Rijeka | |
| DF | Niko Galešić | 26 March 2001 | 6 | 0 | Rijeka | |
| DF | Luka Jelenić | 24 May 2000 | 1 | 0 | Varaždin | |
| DF | Nikola Soldo | 25 January 2001 | 2 | 0 |  1. FC Kaiserslautern | |
| MF | Ante Palaversa | 6 April 2000 | 4 | 0 |  Troyes | |
| MF | Ivan Ćubelić | 2 June 2003 | 1 | 0 | Hajduk Split | |
| MF | Luka Stojković | 28 October 2003 | 4 | 1 | Dinamo Zagreb | |
| MF | Adrian Liber | 9 January 2001 | 4 | 0 | Rijeka | |
| MF | Leon Belcar | 4 January 2002 | 6 | 0 | Varaždin | |
| MF | Niko Janković | 25 August 2001 | 1 | 0 | Rijeka | |
| FW | Silvio Goričan | 27 February 2000 | 3 | 0 | Lokomotiva Zagreb | |
| FW | Ante Crnac | 17 December 2003 | 3 | 0 |  Raków Częstochowa | |
| FW | Karlo Špeljak | 14 March 2003 | 5 | 0 | Celje | |
| FW | Bartol Barišić | 1 January 2003 | 5 | 0 |  DAC Dunajská Streda | |
| FW | Michele Šego | 5 August 2000 | 8 | 1 | Varaždin | |
| FW | Denis Bušnja | 14 April 2000 | 4 | 2 | Rijeka | |
Competitive record
Champions
Runners-up
Third place
Fourth place
Tournament played fully or partially on home soil
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 record
| FIFA U-20 World Cup record | Qualifications record | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Squad | ||||||||
 1977 |
Part of .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Yugoslavia |
||||||||||||||||
 1979 | |||||||||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 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 | ||||||||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 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 | |||||||||
Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out; correct as of 3 July 2013 after the match against Chile.
| 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) | ||||
Record per opponent
Correct as of 3 June 2023, after the match against China.
| Opponent | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Albania |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 100.00 |
| Argentina |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0.00 |
 Austria |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 100.00 |
 Belarus |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 100.00 |
| Brazil |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | −4 | 0.00 |
| Chile |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0.00 |
| China |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 50.00 |
 Czech Republic |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 0.00 |
| France |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 0.00 |
| Ghana |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 0.00 |
 Guatemala |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00 |
| Hungary |
14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 35 | 17 | +18 | 71.43 |
| Italy |
18 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 27 | 34 | −7 | 27.78 |
| Japan |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00 |
| Kazakhstan |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 100.00 |
 Montenegro |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0.00 |
| New Zealand |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Nigeria |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 0.00 |
 Paraguay |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 0.00 |
| Qatar |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | +0 | 33.33 |
 Russia |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 100.00 |
| Saudi Arabia |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 0.00 |
| Serbia |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | −6 | 0.00 |
| Slovakia |
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 75.00 |
| Slovenia |
24 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 52 | 23 | +29 | 66.67 |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Switzerland |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 0.00 |
| Turkey |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 33.33 |
 United States |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00 |
 Uruguay |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 100.00 |
 Uzbekistan |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 0.00 |
 Vietnam |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Total: 31 teams played | 98 | 49 | 19 | 30 | 169 | 130 | +39 | 50.00 |
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
- "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.
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