Croatia at the 1998 FIFA World Cup
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At the 1998 FIFA World Cup Croatia participated for in the event for the first time. The country went on to finish third place in the tournament.
[edit] Qualifications
Croatia was drawn into Group A of UEFA's World Cup qualifications along with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Greece, and Slovenia. Croatia finished second, behind Denmark, and qualified for the World Cup. The team had the following results:
| Results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | |
| October 8, 1996 | Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 4:1 | |
| November 10, 2004 | Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb |
Greece | 1:1 | |
| March 29, 1997 | Poljud Stadium, Split |
Denmark | 1:1 | |
| April 2, 1997 | Poljud Stadium, Split |
Slovenia | 3:3 | |
| April 30, 1997 | Toumba Stadium, Thessaloniki |
Greece | 1:0 | |
| September 6, 1997 | Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3:2 | |
| September 10, 1997 | Parken Stadium, Copenhagen |
Denmark | 1:3 | |
| October 11, 1997 | Bežigrad Stadium, Ljubljana |
Slovenia | 3:1 | |
The final standings were the following:
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Denmark |
17 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 6 | 8 |
 Croatia |
15 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 12 | 5 |
 Greece |
14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 4 | 7 |
 Bosnia & Herzegovina |
9 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 14 | -5 |
 Slovenia |
1 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 20 | -15 |
[edit] Croatia at the World Cup
At the World Cup, Croatia was drawn into Group H along with Argentina, Jamaica, Japan. The team advanced to the round of sixteen, finishing in second place in the group. The team had the following results:
|
|
 Jamaica |
1 - 3 (1-1) |  Croatia |
21:00 - Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens Ref: Vítor Pereira (Portugal) Attendance: 38,058 |
| Earle 45' | Stanić 27' | ||
| Prosinečki 53' | |||
| Šuker 69' |
 Japan |
0 - 1 (0-0) | Croatia |
14:30 - Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes Ref: Ramesh Ramdhan (Trinidad and Tobago) Attendance: 35,500 |
| Šuker 77' | |||
 Argentina |
1 - 0 (1-0) | Croatia |
16:00 - Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Ref: Said Belqola (Morocco) Attendance: 31,800 |
| Pineda 36' |
Croatia went on to face the Romanian squad in the round of sixteen.
 Romania |
0 - 1 (0-1) | Croatia |
16:30 - Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Ref: Javier Castrilli (Argentina) Attendance: 31,800 |
| Šuker (p) 45'+2' |
Croatia then played the heavily favoured German squad in the quarter-finals after their victory over Romania.
 Germany |
0 - 3 (0-1) |  Croatia |
21:00 - Stade Gerland, Lyon Ref: Rune Pedersen (Norway) Attendance: 39,100 |
| Jarni 45'+3' | |||
| Vlaović 80' | |||
| Šuker 85' |
After this surprise victory, Croatia played the host French team.
 France |
2 - 1 (0-0) | Croatia |
21:00 - Stade de France, Saint-Denis Ref: José Garcia Aranda (Spain) Attendance: 76,000 |
| Thuram 47' | Šuker 46' | ||
| Thuram 69' |
Croatia lost the match against France, ending their World Cup dreams. However, they entered the third place consolation match against the Netherlands.
 Netherlands |
1 - 2 (1-2) | Croatia |
21:00 - Parc des Princes, Paris Ref: Epifanio Gonzalez Chavez (Paraguay) Attendance: 45,500 |
| Zenden 21' | Prosinečki 13' | ||
| Šuker 35' |
With this victory, the Croats finished in third, becoming the surprise of the tournament. Croatia's Davor Šuker also earned the tournament's Gold Boot for his six goals.
[edit] Croatia's Roster
Head coach: Miroslav Blažević
| Croatia at the FIFA World Cup | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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