Croatia's memorable 1998 World Cup

Most football fans know that the Yugoslavia war of the early 90s was a huge turning point for the different countries that gained independence because of it and the footballers involved in this country. Yugoslavian football was enjoying a marvelous generation filled with talent, even going as far as having one of their clubs, Red Star Belgrade, winning the 1991 European Cup, nowadays known as the UEFA Champions League.

Croatia was one of the many countries that gained independence because of this war, and, seven years later this conflict, went on to participate in its second-ever official competition in football, this being the 1998 World Cup held in France. This country had some of the best players Yugoslavian football had produced in the late 80s and early 90s, but above all else, they had a point to prove to a lot of people.

The context

After the events of the Yugoslavian war, several countries gained independence and this meant that a lot of players with connections to several of the new countries had to choose the nation they were going to represent. This proved to be a divisive and controversial period for all of these Eastern European talents but is fair to say that they all made their own decision.

Croatia had a strong core of players and became a very competitive national team from the get-go. While a lot of people might have first got aware of this side during the 1998 World Cup, this team had already made an impact in the 1996 Euros held in England, losing in the semifinals 2-1 against Germany, who would go on to become the eventual champions of this tournament.

So, this was already a team that knew how to compete at the highest level and reached the World Cup in France as a massive challenge to not only prove themselves but also to show their allegiance to this country. This is something that the then-Croatia head coach, Miroslav Blazevic, wanted to convey, according to an interview with Reuters in 2018:

"I took advantage of the intense patriotism in the squad," Blazevic said. "We were very much an unknown country so it was our chance to put the team and the whole country in the spotlight. It was easy to motivate the players."

Beyond the motivational factor and the desire to put Croatia on the football map, the truth of the matter is that this was a team with loads of talent. For example, Zvonimir Boban had been playing for AC Milan during the club's prime years, striker Davor Suker was playing for Real Madrid at the time, and Robert Prosinecki had a long record of being one of the best players in Eastern Europe during the vast majority of the 90s.

This was a team that had everything to compete and they would come to show it in this tournament.

The tournament itself

The Croatian team had a convincing performance in the group stage, defeating Jamaica and Japan to qualify to the round of 16, even if they lost to Argentina 1-0. However, it was during the round of 16 and further matches where Croatia really started to show what they were made of, starting with a goal by Davor Suker, allowing them to beat Gheorge Hagi's Rumania 1-0.

Davor Suker

Suker himself got his own recognition since he went on to become the tournament's top goal scorer by scoring six goals in seven matches. This is very important because it further defined this generation of Croatian players, having a footballer of theirs winning of the highest-regarded individual awards in the history of the sport.

The biggest moment for the Croatian team, though, was arguably the quarter-finals against Germany. This match drew a lot of attention, not only because the Germans are always strong candidates for the World but also because they were the then-reigning champions of the Euros and had defeated Croatia in that tournament in the semifinals, so the latter definitely wanted revenge.

One of the biggest differences compared to the previous occasion they faced each other in an official match was the red card that Germany's Christian Wörns received at the 40th minute of the game. This gave Croatian a very prominent advantage and managed to win the match 3-0 with goals made by Suker (of course), Robert Jarni, and Goran Vlaovic.

This was the moment that confirmed that Croatian football was a force to be reckoned with. It is needed to point out how significant this moment was for that country as a whole, showing that they could compete with the best and had a lot of great talents, having a huge influence on younger players many years down the line.

France and that legendary third place

Croatia reached the semifinals and had to face the home nation France in the semifinals. Despite having Suker scored yet again to equalise at the start of the second half, French defender Lilian Thuram scored a brace to take France to the final. It was perhaps even more painful for the Croatian faithful that those would be the only two goals Thuram scored for the France national team in his entire career.

However, it wasn't all over since Croatia managed to reach the podium by defeating the Netherlands in the match for the third place. While it wasn't the same as reaching the final, it was the achievement of defeating the Netherlands and getting the third place in their first-ever World Cup participation. All things considered, it was a huge success for everybody involved.

Croatia amazed the entirety of the football world during this World Cup and it says a lot that another generation, exactly twenty years later, would go as far as surpassing it by reaching the final in the 2018 World Cup.