Croatia EURO 2020 Preview - History and Expectations

Published on 29 Feb 2020 | Last updated on 01 Jul 2026 | Reading time: 5 minutes

Since its first tournament in 1996, Croatia has almost always attended the European Championships, but will still strive to advance to the quarterfinals. At Euro 2016, although they beat Spain and finished at the top of their group, they lost to Portugal after extra time. Then they were brilliant at the 2018 World Cup, reached the final, and will want to transfer this energy in 2021 to the European finals. The selection of the Croats will try to be at a high level again and the goal is medals, but the competition at the tournament will be very serious.

Check out our preview of Croatia at the 2020 European Championships and what we can expect from "The Chequered Ones".

Croatia European Championships - History and successes

Croatia will participate in the European finals for the sixth time. The country's first participation was in 1996 at the championship in England, where the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals. Croatia missed Euro 2000, but qualified for the finals in Portugal four years later, but was eliminated in the group stage. In 2008 the country reached the quarterfinals, and 4 years later dropped out in the group stage. In the last European finals in 2016 in France, the Croatian team was eliminated in the 1/8 finals by the future champions from Portugal.

The Road to Euro 2020

Croatia performed well during their Euro 2020 qualifiers. They did not record a landslide victory against anyone, but finished at the top of their group, losing only once after a shocking defeat by Hungary. Their biggest rivals in the group - Wales, were defeated in Osijek, while the two teams drew 1:1 in Cardiff. Croatia qualifies for the European finals and will have to prove its class in the company of the most elite national teams on the Old Continent.

Euro 2020 fixtures

Croatia is in Group D of Euro 2020 with the national teams of England, the Czech Republic, and Scotland.

• June 13, 3:00 pm: England - Croatia / Wembley Stadium, London /
• June 18, 6:00 pm: Croatia - Czech Republic / Hampden Park, Glasgow /
• June 22, 9:00 pm: Croatia - Scotland / Hampden Park, Glasgow /

Croatia squad for the European Football Championship 2020

Coach Zlatko Dalic is experimenting with different formations and can count on super-class players. Dejan Lovren and Domagoj Vida, if they are able, will lead the defense, as they did in 2018. The full-backs will be completely new, as Filip Uremovic will probably be the right-back, while his great form in Rangers can give Borna Barisic a chance to deal with one of Croatia's weaknesses from 2018. The midfield remains key and you would imagine that Marcelo Brozovic and Luka Modric will take on the same roles they played in the World Cup with Ivan Rakitic, replaced by Mateo Kovacic. The Chelsea player is in excellent shape under the leadership of Thomas Tuchel and his universal set of skills can make him an even better partner for Modric than Rakitic was. The attack is a place for change. Perisic and Ante Rebic may get a chance again in Croatia's attack, but Nikola Vlasic, Andrej Kramaric, and even Mislav Orsic have other offensive options ahead of Dalic.

Goalkeepers: Lovre Kalinic (Hajduk Split), Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb), Simon Sluga (Luton Town)
Defenders: Domagoj Vida (Besiktas), Joško Gvardiol (RB Leipzig), Domagoj Bradarić (LOSC Lille), Mile Škorić (Osijek), Dejan Lovren (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Sime Vrsaljko (Atletico Madrid), Borna Barisic (Rangers), Duje Caleta-Car (Marseille), Josip Juranovic (Legia Warsaw)
Midfielders: Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea), Marcelo Brozovic (Internazionale), Milan Badelj (Genoa), Mario Pasalic (Atalanta), Nikola Vlasic (CSKA Moscow), Ivan Perisic (Internazionale)
Forwards: Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim), Josip Brekalo (Wolfsburg), Mislav Orsic (Dinamo Zagreb), Ante Budimir (Osasuna), Kristijan Lovric (Gorica), Ante Rebić (AC Milan), Bruno Petković (Dinamo Zagreb)

Source: www.goal.com

The Big Star: Luka Modric

Luka Modric, the Ballon D'or holder for 2018, was the key man in the Croatian midfield at the 2018 World Cup. Supported by Marcelo Brozovic and Ivan Rakitic, the Real Madrid midfielder dominated the matches and helped his country achieve great success. His efforts this summer were so intense that for 18 months the Croat seemed to have spent as if he had exchanged all his football life force for the World Cup in Russia. But the break, which delayed the European finals by a year, also helped Luka Modric find himself again. After returning to football after the coronavirus pandemic last summer, Modric is at a great level and, although 35 years old, is again the best midfielder for Real Madrid and Croatia.

Expectations for Croatia at Euro 2020

Since Mateo Kovacic can intervene and play the same decisive role that Rakitic played at the World Cup, Luka Modric's ability to influence the tournament must remain as high as it was in 2018. We predict that Croatia will be in 2nd place in their group, if that happens they can meet the second-placed team in the group of Spain, Sweden, Poland, and Slovakia, so there a big chances to go through the 1/4 finals. For us, this is the best what we can expect from the Croats.

Odds for Croatia

Croatia is not among the favorites for the tournament this summer, but it is not a real outsider. The bookmakers give them more than 30 odds to win Euro 2020, which is reasonable, given the performance of the 2018 World Cup, paving the way to the final through numerous overtimes and penalties. Here are the current odds for the "Chequered Ones":

To win Euro 2020	34.00
To win Group D	4.00