The Croatia national football team defeated Russia at Poljud on Sunday and qualified for the 2022 World Cup, which Qatar will host from November 21 to December 18 next year, reports Gol.hr.
It will be Croatia’s sixth World Cup and the third consecutive major competition in which the Vatreni qualified under coach Zlatko Dalić.
In addition to the World Cup host, Germany, Denmark, Brazil, Belgium, France, Serbia, Spain, and Croatia have qualified for Qatar. A total of 32 national teams will take part, but there is still a long way to complete the entire list of participants.
The World Cup group draw will be held on April 1, 2022, in Doha. On that day, coach Dalić and the players will learn the three national teams they will compete against in the group stage of the World Cup.
At this moment, while the European and other qualifications are still ongoing, it is impossible to know much more about Croatia’s fate in the draw or the seed they will be given.
But before all of that, we have the UEFA Nations League.
Namely, on December 16, the draw for the 2022 Nations League will be held, and a day later UEFA, will announce the exact schedule of matches, which will be held in only two national team windows in 2022.
For example, four Nations League rounds will be played from June 2 to 14, and the remaining two in the second half of September (from 22 to 27).
This does not mean that Croatia will rest at the end of March. While Russia and the remaining second-placed national teams will play additional World Cup qualifications, Croatia will play maybe three friendly matches as part of the World Cup preparations. Therefore, it will be a great chance for Dalić to test the form of the current national team members and those players on his national team radar.
Significant dates for Croatia:
December 16, 2021: Nations League draw
December 17, 2021: Nations League match schedule announcement
March 21 to 30, 2022: 2-3 friendly matches
April 1, 2022: World Cup draw
June 2 to 4, 2022: First round of the Nations League
June 5 to 8, 2022: Second round of the Nations League
June 9 to 11, 2022: Third round of the Nations League
June 12 to 14, 2022: Fourth round of the Nations League
September 22 to 24, 2022: Fifth round of the Nations League
September 25 to 27, 2022: Sixth round of the Nations League
To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.
