Croatians are in the group of death at the EURO, the ageless Modric will once again lead them to success

Croatia’s silver medal at the 2018 World Cup has sent a huge football fever into the country. Croatia followed up their fantastic success four years later with bronze in Qatar. So Modric and co. are certainly not laying down their arms now, even with a group of death awaiting them.

While the Croatians have already won two bronzes and one silver at the World Cup, they have never once broken into the top four at the European Championships. The closest they came was in 2008, where they fell to Turkey on penalties in the quarter-finals.

Croatia’s golden generation, however, culminated in 2018. Although a large part of the national team from that championship is now gone, other interesting players have grown up and Croatia certainly cannot underestimate themselves at EURO 2024. Especially in big tournaments, it can always do its best.

Modric and ten others

Croatia’s number one will be Dominik Livakovic, who was one of the best goalkeepers at the World Cup in Qatar. The biggest star in the defensive line will be Joško Gvardiol, the Manchester City defender.

But other players have star teams behind their names, such as Josip Stanišić of Leverkusen and Josip Šutalo of Ajax.

The back line is led by ageless captain Luka Modric. He hasn’t played as much at Real Madrid this season, filling more of a joker’s role, so he will have plenty of strength to show at the EURO. Alongside him will be his two long-time teammates Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic.

In the offensive trio, four names will mainly fight for the starting lineup. The experienced Ivan Perisic, who has not had a good season, the skilled header Ante Budimir, the reliable goal scorer Andrej Kramaric and the fast player Lovro Majer.

The ideal line-up

Livakovic
Stanišić – Šutalo – Gvardiol – Sosa
Brozovic – Kovacic – Modric
Majer – Budimir – Kramaric

Croatia didn’t have much luck with the draw and got into the group of death along with Spain and Italy. Fortunately for them, they will qualify for the European Championship from third place, but the Croatians will surely target the top two positions. As for the knockout stage, nobody can underestimate the Croatians there anymore, Brazil knows that from the last World Cup in Qatar.

Source: Croatian national football team, UEFA