Croatia at the 2006 FIFA World Cup
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Croatia participated in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. This was their third appearance. The country has qualified for every World Cup which it has been eligible for since independence in 1991.
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[edit] Qualifying
Croatia was in Group 8 of UEFA's World Cup qualifications. They played alongside Bulgaria, Hungary, Iceland, Malta, and Sweden. During the course of qualifications, the team remained undefeated. At the end of qualification, the team was tied with Sweden in points. However, Croatia won the tiebreaker based on their head-to-head record (Croatia won both meetings).
The complete results were as follows:
| Results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | |
| September 4, 2004 | Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb |
Hungary | 3:0 | |
| September 8, 2004 | Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg |
Sweden | 1:0 | |
| October 9, 2005 | Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb |
Bulgaria | 2:2 | |
| March 26, 2005 | Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb |
Iceland | 4:0 | |
| March 30, 2005 | Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb |
Malta | 3:0 | |
| June 4, 2005 | Vasil Levski Stadium, Sofia |
Bulgaria | 3:1 | |
| September 3, 2005 | Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík |
Iceland | 3:1 | |
| September 7, 2005 | Ta' Qali, Ta' Qali |
Malta | 1:1 | |
| October 8, 2005 | Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb |
Sweden | 1:0 | |
| October 12, 2004 | Ferenc Puskás Stadium, Budapest |
Hungary | 0:0 | |
The final standings were the following:
| Final Standings | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | |
| Croatia | 24 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 5 | 16 | |
| Sweden | 24 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 30 | 4 | 26 | |
| Bulgaria | 15 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 17 | 0 | |
| Hungary | 14 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 14 | -1 | |
| Iceland | 4 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 27 | -13 | |
| Malta | 3 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 32 | -28 | |
[edit] World Cup preparation
The Croatian national team's World Cup camp was in the spa town of Bad Brückenau in northern Bavaria, Germany. The county of Bad Kissingen in northern Bavaria was the only one to host two teams preparations. Ecuador were based in the city of Bad Kissingen,
The team also participated in several exhibition games around Europe in preparation for the World Cup:
| Results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | |
| May 23, 2006 | Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna |
Austria | 4:1 | |
| May 28, 2006 | Gradski vrt, Osijek |
Iran | 2:2 | |
| June 3, 2006 | Volkswagen Arena, Wolfsburg |
Poland | 0-1 | |
| June 7, 2005 | Stade de Genève, Geneva |
Spain | 1-2 | |
[edit] Draw
Croatia was drawn into Group F. Croatia's opponents, in the first stage, were, respectively Brazil, Australia and Japan.
[edit] History
From the group, the Croatian team has only faced Japan before in a World Cup, but other matches, both official and friendly ones, have taken place with the other two. The history of those matches up until, but not including, the 2006 World Cup is as follows:
| Opponent | Matches | Victories | Ties | Defeats | Goals scored | Goals conceded | First match |
Last match |
| Brazil | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1:1 (on August 17, 2005 at Poljud, Split) | 1:1 (on August 17, 2005 at Poljud, Split) |
| Australia | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 0:1 (on May 7, 1992 in Melbourne) | 7:0 (on June 7, 1998 at Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb) |
| Japan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3:4 (on July 23, 1989 in Tokyo) | 1:0 (on June 22, 2005 at Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes) |
[edit] 2006 World Cup squad
Head coach: Zlatko Kranjčar
[edit] Matches
All times local (UTC+2)
[edit] Round Robin
See also: 2006 FIFA World Cup - Group F
Group F
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Brazil |
9 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 |
 Australia |
4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
 Croatia |
2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 |
 Japan |
1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 |
First Round
Brazil vs Croatia
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
21:00 - Olympic Stadium, Berlin - Attendance: 72,000
 Brazil |
1 – 0 (1–0) | Croatia  |
| Kaká 44' |
[edit] MiscellaneousPrior to the Croatia's match against Brazil, 823 flares were confiscated from fans. However, Croatian fans managed to sneak in at least two and lit them during the game. This game was also marked by a Croatian fan stepping onto the field and kissing the boots of Croatian forward Dado Pršo. [edit] References
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