Croatia's European Championships Record

The history of Croatia is relatively new, since the team has been set up in 1990 and joined UEFA and FIFA in 1992, after Croatia was granted independence from Yugoslavia. Although very new, they possess a very strong team with an iron will to uphold their nation's pride. The first competitive matches for Croatia were the qualifying matches for the Euro 1996. They managed to qualify for this tournament, to record their first appearance in a major international tournament.

Croatia has rocketed up the FIFA ranking, qualified for every World Cup they entered, and until today won all competitive games they have played in Croatia. In the Euro 1996, they managed to reach the quarter-finals, winning two games and losing two. Croatia then failed to enter Euro 2000, but returned in the Portugal Euro 2004. However, the 2004 tournament was not a good one for Croatia which failed to win a single match. The 2008 event looks very promising for this nation, after they managed to defeat and eliminate super-giants England in the final qualifying match.

The team is currently managed by Slaven Bilic and captained by Niko Kovac (Salzburg midfielder). Croatia rank in the 12th position in the FIFA rankings, just 37 points away from England (as of February 2008). They are well-known for their attractive chequered red-and-white kits. They'll always be remembered as the team that stopped England qualifying for the Euro 2008 finals with their infamous 3-2 win at the Wembley on the 21st November 2007.

Croatia's Euro 2008 Fixtures:

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