Croatia will play their first World Cup friendly on Tuesday with an 18:00 kick-off against Belgium in Rijeka. Coach Zlatko Dalić has billed the match as a crucial test of the three-centre-back formation he intends to deploy against England in Croatia’s opening group stage fixture at the tournament.
Official squad and jersey numbers confirmed
With June 1st marking the FIFA deadline for final squad submissions, team manager Iva Olivari officially submitted Dalić’s 26-man roster to world football’s governing body, identical to the squad announced at the May 20th press conference.
The jersey numbers Croatia’s players will wear at the World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States have also been confirmed:
1 Dominik Livaković, 2 Josip Stanišić, 3 Marin Pongračić, 4 Joško Gvardiol, 5 Duje Ćaleta-Car, 6 Josip Šutalo, 7 Nikola Moro, 8 Mateo Kovačić, 9 Andrej Kramarić, 10 Luka Modrić, 11 Ante Budimir, 12 Ivor Pandur, 13 Nikola Vlašić, 14 Ivan Perišić, 15 Mario Pašalić, 16 Martin Baturina, 17 Petar Sučić, 18 Kristijan Jakić, 19 Toni Fruk, 20 Igor Matanović, 21 Luka Sučić, 22 Luka Vušković, 23 Dominik Kotarski, 24 Marco Pašalić, 25 Martin Erlić, 26 Petar Musa.
Dalić then addressed the press ahead of the friendly match tomorrow.
What is Gvardiol’s condition?
We hope he will be important for us and that he will be ready. We will try to give him minutes in the friendly matches so he arrives at the World Cup in full form. We expect him to be a significant reinforcement compared to the America camp.
Is it harder to put squads together now?
It’s no different; I always have to pick the best. We followed everyone, kept notes… The national team isn’t a moment; it’s a cycle and form over two years. I’ve been doing it that way for nine years, and it has brought me silver and bronze. I know there are other opinions, but I stick to that approach.
Who will be part of your coaching staff?
I’ll sort that out with the president. I would like Olić to be there, as he’s been with us for six years, but that’s a matter for the president.
The situation with Modrić?
He’s training with a mask; he’s fine. Maybe this rest has done him good. We’ll see how he looks, but I have no doubts about him. I believe he’ll be in good shape.
What result would you be satisfied with?
The first goal is to get through a tough group, but I’m an optimist. We have quality, youth and experience; the players have progressed. Baturina and Sučić are playing fantastically in Italy; that gives me optimism.
Will you play with three or four at the back?
We have excellent centre-backs. For England, we are preparing to play with three. Just as in recent years we had the best midfield line in the world, now we have outstanding centre-backs. We need to be solid, powerful and strong, and going forward we will always create something. We’ll try to play both systems.
Vušković?
One of the best players in the Bundesliga. He has matured. Alongside Gvardiol, he will be the cornerstone of the national team for the next fifteen years.
Kovačić?
He hasn’t played for a year, which concerns me, but we have to call him up — he is a luxury for us. We need to see how we manage to combine him with players who are also short of rhythm.
