World Cup 2018: Croatia

Before the 2018 World Cup starts in Moscow next June 14, Brussels Express will present all EU national teams involved in the competition. Chapter III: Croatia.

Do you remember the 1998 World Cup, the one which made Croatia a significant Football national team? 20 years ago, Davor Suker and his temmates reached the semi-finals for the first time only to be eliminated by…France, the future winner.

If you only refer to ratings, Croatia is quite unlikely to reach the semi-finals this year. But you never know what could happen.

Two years ago, Croatia was congratulated by football fans and experts alike for its football finesse. Although the Croatian football teams are not used to going far in competitions like Europa League or in UEFA Champion’s League, some of his national players today play in the best teams across Europe (FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, Atlético Madrid etc.).

Croatia therefore can be a surprising team for the upcomingWorld Cup, although the qualifying group, which involves Argentina, Iceland and Nigeria appears to be very tricky.

Key Player: Ivan Rakitić

Although picking up a Croatian football player lies within the classic dilemma between Real Madrid (Luka Modrić) and FC Barcelona (Ivan Rakitić), Ivan Rakitić has been being one of the most important midfield players across the World over the past few years. While he played for Schalke 04 (Germany) seven years ago, he won the Europa League with FC Seville in 2014, before winning the UEFA Champion’s League with FC Barcelona the year after.

In 2017-2018, he played almost all the games with FC Barcelona, and won the Spanish championship for the third time.

Calendar:

16 June – Croatia vs. Nigeria.

21 June – Argentina vs. Croatia..

26 June – Iceland vs. Croaita.

Places to watch the games in Brussels:

The organisation FC Croatia BXL will hold events.