August 19, 2024 – Croatia national team coach Zlatko Dalić invited 24 players to kick off the UEFA Nations League in September.
In the last edition of the Nations League, Croatia advanced to the final tournament and won the silver medal after finishing on top in a group with France, Denmark and Austria. In the new cycle, Croatia plays Portugal, Poland and Scotland. The two best national teams will advance to the quarter-finals, which will be played in March 2025. The third-placed team will play a playoff to stay in the top league, while the last team in the group will be relegated to League B.
Croatia opens the competition with a visit to Lisbon on September 5. Three days later, they will host Poland at the Opus Arena in Osijek. In addition to 24 invitations, coach Dalić placed seven on standby. The national team will gather on Monday, September 2 in Zagreb, where they will stay until they leave for Lisbon on September 4.
“The Nations League will be a good platform for us to create a team that will qualify for the 2026 World Cup next year. Compared to this year’s Euro, we are without two senators, Vida and Brozović, but that is why we are all happy that the captain can continue with us. Luka is our great strength on and off the field,” coach Dalić said.
“We still have strong foundations in the team that won the bronze medal at the World Cup in Qatar two years ago, and at the same time, we refreshed the team with several new names that we want to see in the national team environment. The new season has just started and all candidates have an opportunity with the national team through good work and quality performances.
Tough opponents await us in the Nations League, starting with Portugal in Lisbon. Although we will not and must not ignore the result because the Croatia national team must always strive for victories and successes, our first goal in the Nations League is to put together a team that will go into the World Cup qualifiers. This means finding some new faces, trying out some new personnel and tactical solutions, while maintaining what was most important in our successes – strong togetherness, team spirit and a winning mentality,” emphasized Dalić.
List of players against Portugal and Poland:
Goalkeepers: Dominik Livaković, Dominik Kotarski, Nediljko Labrović
Defenders: Joško Gvardiol, Duje Ćaleta-Car, Borna Sosa, Josip Stanišić, Josip Šutalo, Marin Pongracić, Martin Erlić
Midfielders: Luka Modric, Mateo Kovačić, Mario Pasalić, Lovro Majer, Luka Ivanušec, Luka Sučić, Kristijan Jakić, Martin Baturina, Petar Sučić
Forwards: Ivan Perišić, Andrej Kramarić, Bruno Petković, Ante Budimir, Igor Matanović
Standby: Borna Barišić, Marko Pjaca, Ivica Ivušić, Marco Pašalić, Nikola Moro, Toni Fruk, Robert Ljubičić
