Team created by a collaborative effort of 27DONI72, Milos, StuartBannigan and gurkenjoe93










Honours:

• FIFA World Cup

Runner-Up (1): 2018
Third place (2): 1998, 2022

• UEFA Nations League

Runner-Up (1): 2023

COACH: Tomislav IVIĆ




The best ever Croatian players 23-man squad



GOALKEEPERS:

● Franjo GLASER
● Vladimir BEARA

DEFENDERS:

● Ivan HORVAT
● Tomislav CRNKOVIĆ
● Dragan HOLCER
● Ivan BULJAN
● Velimir ZAJEC
● Robert JARNI
● Darijo SRNA

MIDFIELDERS:

● Zlatko ČAJKOVSKI
● Jurica JERKOVIĆ
● Ivan ŠURJAK
● Zvonimir BOBAN
● Robert PROSINEČKI
● Luka MODRIĆ
● Ivan RAKITIĆ

FORWARDS:

● Ivan HITREC
● Frane MATOŠIĆ
● Stjepan BOBEK
● Bernard VUKAS
● Branko ZEBEC
● Josip SKOBLAR
● Davor ŠUKER




_____________________________________________________________



RESERVES:


GOALKEEPERS:

● Dragutin VRĐUKA
● Franjo ŠOŠTARIĆ
● Dražen LADIĆ

DEFENDERS:

● Bernard HÜGL
● Ivan JAZBINŠEK
● Miroslav BROZOVIĆ
● Bruno BELIN
● Mladen RAMLJAK
● Vilson DŽONI
● Luka PERUZOVIĆ
● Slaven BILIĆ
● Robert KOVAČ
● Josip ŠIMUNIĆ

MIDFIELDERS:

● Danijel PREMERL
● Gustav LECHNER
● Ante ŽANETIĆ
● Željko PERUŠIĆ
● Rudi BELIN
● Dražen MUŽINIĆ
● Ivan GUDELJ
● Aljoša ASANOVIĆ
● Ivan PERIŠIĆ
● Marcelo BROZOVIĆ

FORWARDS:

● Leo LEMEŠIĆ
● August LEŠNIK
● Franjo WÖLFL
● Zvonimir CIMERMANČIĆ
● Željko ČAJKOVSKI
● Dražan JERKOVIĆ
● Slaven ZAMBATA
● Zlatko KRANJČAR
● Alen BOKŠIĆ
● Mario MANDŽUKIĆ












COACH: Zlatko DALIĆ




The best ever Croatian players 23-man squad



GOALKEEPERS:

● Dražen LADIĆ
● Dominik LIVAKOVIĆ

DEFENDERS:

● Slaven BILIĆ
● Igor ŠTIMAC
● Robert JARNI
● Dario ŠIMIĆ
● Robert KOVAČ
● Josip ŠIMUNIĆ
● Darijo SRNA

MIDFIELDERS:

● Aljoša ASANOVIĆ
● Zvonimir BOBAN
● Mario STANIĆ
● Robert PROSINEČKI
● Zvonimir SOLDO
● Luka MODRIĆ
● Ivan RAKITIĆ
● Ivan PERISIĆ
● Marcelo BROZOVIĆ

FORWARDS:

● Davor ŠUKER
● Alen BOKŠIĆ
● Goran VLAOVIĆ
● Ivica OLIĆ
● Mario MANDŽUKIĆ




_____________________________________________________________



RESERVES:


GOALKEEPERS:

● Tomislav BUTINA
● Stipe PLETIKOSA
● Danijel SUBAŠIĆ

DEFENDERS:

● Nikola JERKAN
● Igor TUDOR
● Stjepan TOMAS
● Boris ŽIVKOVIĆ
● Vedran ĆORLUKA
● Dejan LOVREN
● Ivan STRINIĆ
● Domagoj VIDA
● Šime VRSALJKO
● Joško GVARDIOL

MIDFIELDERS:

● Milan RAPAIĆ
● Niko KOVAČ
● Jurica VRANJEŠ
● Marko BABIĆ
● Niko KRANJČAR
● Danijel PRANJIĆ
● Ognjen VUKOJEVIĆ
● Milan BADELJ
● Mateo KOVAČIĆ
● Nikola VLASIĆ

FORWARDS:

● Igor CVITANOVIĆ
● Davor VUGRINEC
● Boško BALABAN
● Mladen PETRIĆ
● Dado PRŠO
● Ivan KLASNIĆ
● EDUARDO
● Nikola KALINIĆ
● Andrej KRAMARIĆ
● Bruno PETKOVIĆ

Linked every player found on the forum...

Buljan is wrong linked.

modric and mandzukic should be in first team.
They became the runners-up of the World Cup

This will be my first post on this forum,but certainly not the last
I'm from Serbia, and I'm very interested in classic football, I'm especially interested in the Balkan region, and I'll try to be as objective and constructive as possible in my suggestions.
As I said, even though I'm from Serbia, I think that more talented footballers come from Croatia, that's a fact, as shown by the recent results, so I think that the best 23 from Croatia should be carefully selected, and here, sorry, that's not the case.I will try to explain item by item which changes should be made, and I apologize in advance for the thoroughness because the team definitely needs to be updated.
- Luka Modrić, I don't know if I need to explain anything further , we all know who he is and what he is, in exchange for Asanović, he was not the best midfielder even in his generation
- Mario Mandžukić is not even in the reserves, that's ridiculous, the most important striker in recent Croatian football history, contributed to winning the vice-champion title in Russia, instead of Franjo Wölfl, he can be in Dinamo's best team, I don't think he has a place in the 23
- Dražan Jerković, one of the most prominent Croatian strikers, very important for the national team in 1962, and the best scorer then, the best striker in that part of Europe in 60s, instead of Matošić, I look at it in the context of time and importance, very important for Hajduk, but I am still not convinced that is better than Jerković
- Ivan Perišić, probably the best winger that Croatia had, also very important in winning the second and third place at the World Cup, instead of Jurica Jerković, sorry about this, but I didn't even hear about this guy until I came to this forum, do what you want, to me, Perišić is much more important for Croatian football
- Darijo Srna, the best right back of Croatia without question, held that side strong, both in the national team and in the clubs where he played, and because of the balance in the team he should definitely be in the 23, instead of Jazbinšek, really never heard of him , as far as I understood, he played for Croatian nazi Puppet state, then went to Canada, he can hardly take the place of one Srna
- Velimir Zajec, the legendary Zeko, how could he not be among the 23, one of the best defensive/DM in Balkans 80s, all-rounder, significant career, instead Ivan Buljan,in the same rank, only in my opinion Zeko is better and more significant
- Ivan Rakitić, another one of the most important footballers in the recent Croatian football history, a nice and smooth career, maybe next to Modrić the best midfielder, instead of Bilić, this guy is not considered among the best defenders even in his homeland, and there are too many defenders if you haven't noticed Bilić certainly not a place among the best 23, I was looking for the team to be as well balanced as possible

And that's it. I hope for constructive analyses, the only thing I'm not completely sure about Perišić...

And one more thing, I think that when we choose the best, we should look at both contexts and how much they really are the best and how important they were then for the national team and find a perfect balance between the two.
Example: Dejan "Rambo" Petković is probably the best midfield player that Serbia had, he played 9 games for the national team, almost all of them friendlies, he was simply not called to play for the national team, so he has no place among the best, even though he certainly is one of the best

Welcome, man!
You make some very good points, I find it hard to disagree. I believe that is one of the selections that would be updated soon.

The best ever Croatian players 23-man squad



GOALKEEPERS:

● Franjo GLASER
● Vladimir BEARA

DEFENDERS:

● Velimir ZAJEC
● Ivan HORVAT
● Branko ZEBEC
● Tomislav CRNKOVIĆ
● Dragan HOLCER
● Darijo SRNA
● Robert JARNI

MIDFIELDERS:

● Zlatko ČAJKOVSKI
● Stjepan BOBEK
● Ivan PERIŠIĆ
● Ivica ŠURJAK
● Luka MODRIĆ
● Zvonimir BOBAN
● Robert PROSINEČKI
● Ivan RAKITIĆ

FORWARDS:

● Ivan HITREC
● Dražan JERKOVIĆ
● Mario MANDŽUKIĆ
● Bernard VUKAS
● Josip SKOBLAR
● Davor ŠUKER

Suggestion for the best 23

@Danny Could you maybe make two separate teams: sth like "Croatian Yugoslavia" & one like "modern Croatia"? Personally I've expressed my opposition to these merged teams, as I don't find much relation between the eras, among other technical stuff. How do you reflect on this?

I will do,i must do some research for that,I will do it as soon as possible

This is actually what's been chosen for such teams. One version that includes players from all eras and one with only post-independence players.

I agree with Fanis. however, for Croatia, but also for all the national teams born from the dissolution of a federation, such as Yugoslavia, USSR or Czechoslovakia, I too would divide the roster between Croatian players before and after the dissolution.

Until 1991.

GOALKEEPERS:

● Franjo GLASER
● Vladimir BEARA

DEFENDERS:

● Velimir ZAJEC
● Ivan HORVAT
● Branko ZEBEC
● Tomislav CRNKOVIĆ
● Dragan HOLCER
● Ivan BULJAN
● Bruno BELIN

MIDFIELDERS:

● Zlatko ČAJKOVSKI
● Stjepan BOBEK
● Danijel PREMERL
● Ivica ŠURJAK
● Gustav LECHNER
● Rudi BELIN
● Ivan GUDELJ
● Jurica JERKOVIĆ

FORWARDS:

● Ivan HITREC
● Dražan JERKOVIĆ
● Frane MATOŠIĆ
● Bernard VUKAS
● Josip SKOBLAR
● Franjo WÖLFL

After independence

GOALKEEPERS:

● Stipe PLETIKOSA
● Danijel SUBAŠIĆ

DEFENDERS:

● Dario ŠIMIĆ
● Robert KOVAČ
● Josip ŠIMUNIĆ
● Dejan LOVREN
● Šime VRSALJKO
● Darijo SRNA
● Robert JARNI

MIDFIELDERS:

● Aljoša ASANOVIĆ
● Marcelo BROZOVIĆ
● Ivan PERIŠIĆ
● Mateo KOVAČIĆ
● Luka MODRIĆ
● Zvonimir BOBAN
● Robert PROSINEČKI
● Ivan RAKITIĆ
● Zvonimir SOLDO

FORWARDS:

● EDUARDO da Silva
● Andrej KRAMARIĆ
● Mario MANDŽUKIĆ
● Ivica OLIĆ
● Davor ŠUKER

Reserves :

GOALKEEPERS:

● Dražen LADIĆ
● Dominik LIVAKOVIĆ

DEFENDERS:

● Igor ŠTIMAC
● Slaven BILIĆ
● Igor TUDOR

MIDFIELDERS:

● Mario STANIĆ
● Niko KOVAČ
● Niko KRANJČAR

FORWARDS:

● Dado PRŠO
● Alen BOKŠIĆ
● Goran VLAOVIĆ
● Milan RAPAIĆ

It turned out that it is very difficult to choose the best 23 after independence, there are many good midfield players, and as far as the defense is concerned, they are all almost equal, I tried to choose according to the influence on the national team, but you did not make a mistake to put anyone from the reserves in the first team, maybe also personal preference may play a role,i'm talking about defense

You can already add Gvardiol into the reserves, doubt any croatian defender was ever that recognized during an official tournament.

I agree, Joško is a huge talent. If you notice, throughout the history of Croatian football, the worst part was the defense, especially from independence, Guardiol can change that, if he develops in the right direction, the future will show

@Danny Good work. I can't tell rn if I agree with all the selections, but I'm sure it won't be much different. Composition-wise let me tell you two options: either keep the traditional 23-man plan, move ahead filling the reserves at the same number (could it be 10 men for each position) & move Perisic to FWs for better layout (7 DFs - 8 MFs - 6 FWs) or go for a bigger number at the first team but same for each position (example: 2-8-8-8) & smaller at the reserves but same again (example: 1-5-5-5).
@Interista93 Most relative cases haven't been updated though.
@Bonaz You can also check my suggestion and reasoning at: Board Index > Rules > Suggestions for forum improvement. I think these teams look settled down this way. Pending for the admins' final word ultimately.