Croatia at the World Cup 2026: Squad, fixtures, group and history

Croatia were runners-up in 2018, and took bronze medals last time out, so had standards to maintain at FIFA World Cup 2026. However, Zlatko Dalić's side, led by captain Luka Modrić, were eliminated by Portugal in the last 32 after taking second spot in Group L.

Below you will find everything you need to know about Croatia at the 2026 World Cup: their fixtures, squad, qualifying record, key players, coach and tournament history.

Croatia at the World Cup 2026: At a glance

Coach: Zlatko Dalić
Captain: Luka Modrić
World Cup appearances: 6
Best finish: Runners-up (2018)

Croatia's World Cup matches

Group L: Runners-up

17 June: England 4-2 Croatia (Dallas)
24 June: Panama 0-1 Croatia (Toronto)
27 June: Croatia 2-1 Ghana (Philadelphia)

Knockout stage

3 July – round of 32: Portugal 2-1 Croatia (Toronto)

Croatia's World Cup squad

Croatia's 26-man World Cup squad included plenty of battle-hardened talent, not least midfield magician and captain Luka Modrić, who brought up 200 caps against Panama in their second outing of the finals. Ivan Perišić and Andrej Kramarić continued to lead the goalscoring charge.

How Croatia qualified for the World Cup

First place in Group L: W7 D1 L0 F26 A4

Gibraltar 0-7 Croatia
Croatia 5-1 Czechia
Faroe Islands 0-1 Croatia
Croatia 4-0 Montenegro
Czechia 0-0 Croatia
Croatia 3-0 Gibraltar
Croatia 3-1 Faroe Islands
Montenegro 2-3 Croatia

Top scorer: Andrej Kramarić (6 goals)

Croatia coach: Zlatko Dalić

Hired in 2017, Zlatko Dalić led Croatia at a third successive World Cup finals, having overseen the nation's greatest success to date when he took them to the 2018 final. A defensive midfielder who spent much of his playing career at Hajduk Split and Varteks, he took charge of Croatia after successfully leading clubs in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Croatia captain: Luka Modrić

At 40, Luka Modrić continues to sparkle at the top level in European football, having ended a long, successful spell at Real Madrid to join AC Milan at the start of the 2025/26 campaign. A three-time Croatian title winner at GNK Dinamo, his haul in Spain included six UEFA Champions League titles. The 2018 Ballon d'Or winner has now surpassed 200 senior international appearances.

Croatia's World Cup history 

Most appearances: Luka Modrić (23)
Top scorer: Ivan Perišić, Davor Šuker (6)
Best performance: Runners-up (2018)
World Cup 2022: Third place

Since earning a third-place finish at the 1998 finals in France, Croatia have only missed one World Cup (the 2010 edition) and reached the final for the first time in 2018, and then the semi-finals in Qatar in 2022, losing to eventual winners Argentina before winning the third-place play-off against Morocco.

Croatia's UEFA Nations League fixtures: Group A3

26 September: Czechia vs Croatia (20:45)
29 September: Spain vs Croatia (20:45)
3 October: Croatia vs England (18:00)
6 October: Croatia vs Spain (20:45)
12 November: England vs Croatia (20:45)
15 November: Croatia vs Czechia (20:45)

All times CET.