Croatia W

Official formation

Various unofficial sides delineated the early history of Croatian football as Croatia was not an independent entity until the late 20th century. The Croatian Football Federation has historically maintained its first official international match as the 2 April 1940 friendly contested by the Banovina of Croatia within Yugoslavia and Switzerland, where the former prevailed 4–0. That year, Jozo Jakopić led the national side representing the Banovina of Croatia in four friendly matches. Following the 1941 Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, Germany and Italy took control of Croatia, forming the Independent State of Croatia and installing Rudolf Hitrec as an unofficial manager for two years. The side played 15 friendly matches from its re-activation in FIFA in 1941 until the end of World War II. In 1945, Croatia returned to Yugoslavia as the People's Republic of Croatia with sides active until 1956. During the nation's pre-independence, Croat footballers played for Yugoslavia at the Summer Olympics, the FIFA World Cup, and the UEFA European Championship from 1956 to 1990.

Croatia debuted their modern checkered jersey – their first international match as an independent country – against the United States on 17 October 1990, winning 2–1. Caretaker manager Dražan Jerković, led the de facto national side before their formal re-admission into FIFA on 3 July 1992, winning two more friendly games against Romania in December 1990 and Slovenia in June 1991. Stanko Poklepović took over team management and led them on an exhibition tour in their debut against Australia, before he was succeeded by Vlatko Marković in April 1993. Croatia gained admission into UEFA in June 1993, three months after qualification for the 1994 World Cup started, missing their window to enter the competition. After winning a match against Ukraine in June 1993, Marković was succeeded by Miroslav Blažević in March 1994.

Blažević period (1994–1999)

After the independence of Croatia, the newly formed Croatia entered the FIFA World Rankings in 125th place in March 1994. Blažević launched Croatia's qualifying campaign for Euro 1996 with a 2–0 win over Estonia on 4 September 1994 and a 1–0 away loss to Ukraine on 1 June 1995, their first competitive win and loss. After finishing first in qualifying, the team halved their spot in the World Ranking, ascending to number 62, winning FIFA's 1994 Best Mover of the Year in December 1994. In the Euro 1996 group stage, Goran Vlaović scored the team's first goal at a tournament, a late strike to win 1–0 against Turkey. Croatia then beat reigning champions Denmark 3–0, later losing to Portugal by the same scoreline. The team advanced to the knockout stage and were beaten in the quarter-finals 1–2 by Germany. Croatia's qualifying campaign from 1998 to 1999 for Euro 2000 was unsuccessful as they finished third in their group behind FR Yugoslavia and the Republic of Ireland. Both fixtures against Yugoslavia ended in draws which prevented Croatia from qualifying by one point.

Croatia began their qualification campaign for the 1998 World Cup led by captain Zvonimir Boban with an aggregate victory against Ukraine in the two-legged playoff. In the group stage, Croatia beat both Jamaica and Japan, later losing to Argentina to advance with them to the knockout stage. A 1–0 victory over Romania moved the Croatians to the quarter-finals against Germany. Croatia beat the Germans 3–0 with goals from Robert Jarni, Goran Vlaović and Davor Šuker, all after Christian Wörns had been sent off. They advanced to their first semi-final against hosts France. After a goalless first-half, Croatia led after Aljoša Asanović pushed past Zinedine Zidane to cross a ball downfield to Šuker who scored after a one-on-one with goalkeeper Fabien Barthez. France's defender Lilian Thuram equalised quickly after, and scored another goal later in the game to beat Croatia 2–1. In the third place match, Croatia prevailed against the Netherlands 2–1 to secure bronze and claim their first World Cup medal. Šuker won the Golden Shoe for scoring the most goals in the World Cup: six goals in seven games. The Croatians' performance during the late-1990s propelled them to rank third place in the FIFA World Ranking in January 1999. The team of the 1990s was dubbed the "golden generation" for their contributions to Croatia's ascension in international football.

Jozić, Barić and Kranjčar period (2000–2006)

Croatia started their qualifying campaign for the 2002 World Cup with draws against Belgium and Scotland prompting Blažević's resignation as head coach in October 2000. His successor, Mirko Jozić, pushed the team through the rest of qualifiers undefeated. In the group stage, Croatia narrowly lost to Mexico before beating Italy 2–1 and sustaining a 1–0 loss to Ecuador. The team was eliminated by one point, leading to the resignation of Jozić and succession of Otto Barić in July 2002, their first manager born outside of Southeast Europe. During Barić's tenure, most of the remaining players from the "golden generation" squad were gradually replaced by younger players over the course of qualifying for Euro 2004.