Croatia, coached by Zlatko Kranjcar, surprised a lot of people by winning their qualifying group ahead of fellow World Cup qualifiers Sweden (whom they beat twice in the qualifiers), and now the Croatian's are looking for a repeat performance of France '98 when they amazed everyone by finishing third.

The Croatian national football team is one of the most successful teams in international competitions. This is mainly due to the fact that Croatia has only participated in two previous World Cup tournaments (the World Cup 2006 being the third).

Croatia also reached the quarter finals of Euro ‘96 in England, as well as achieving a third place finish at the 1998 World Cup in France.

Ever since taking over, manager Zlatko Kranjcar has his team playing at their peak and many feel they have a great chance of getting through to the knockout stages from Group F which features Brazil.

The Croatian defence in qualification was impeccable, keeping a clean sheet in six of their qualifying games and conceding just five goals in total.

Led by captain Robert Kovac, the back four of Croatia will need to be at the top of their game to ensure that they progress to the knockout stages.

The defence has a wealth of experience, with veteran defender Igor Tudor being backed up by Juventus’ Robert Kovac, Stjepan Tomas from Galatasaray, AC Milan’s Dario Simic, and Josip Simunic from Hertha Berlin and Marijan Buljat from Dinamo Zagreb all keeping guard.

Midfield has the talent of Jerko Leko from Dynamo Kiev, Hajduk Split’s Niko Kranjcar, Niko Kovac from German side Hertha Berlin and fellow Bundesliga midfielder Marko Babic from Bayer Leverkusen and Darijo Srna from Russian side Shakhtar Donetsk are all experienced team players.

Both midfielder Darijo Srna and Glasgow Rangers striker Dado Prso came into their own on the international stage by leading Croatia with five goals apeice. Srna scored the only goals in both wins over Sweden.

Dado Prso, along with Ivan Klasnic from Werder Bremen, Eduardo Da Silva from Dinamo Zagreb and Club Bruges Bosko Balaban are the strike-force for Krankjar’s squad, and pose a threat to any team.

Croatia’s recent World Cup warm-up match against Argentina, which Croatia won 3-2 - coming back from behind to defeat Jose Pekerman's Albiceleste as both teams get prepared for June's World Cup Final's - was a show of just exactly how dangerous the Eastern European team can be.

Croatia are also due to face Austria on May 23, Romania on 28 May, and Poland on 2 June in their World Cup warm-up preparations.

If they are to progress, it will be important for Croatia to keep their opponents well maintained, which they should be able to do against Japan and Australia, but keeping Brazil from scoring will be a true test for the Croatian team.

If they are to progress past the group stage, they will most likely meet the winner of Group E, which could be a tough match-up, but the Croatian’s are a tough, hard working side and should never be underestimated.

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Croatia Match Fixtures in the World Cup 2006 Finals

13-Jun-06	Brazil v Croatia	21:00 BST
18-Jun-06	Japan v Croatia	15:00 BST
22-Jun-06	Croatia v Australia	21:00 BST

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Historic Facts

First International appearance: Croatia 2 - 1 U.S.A.(Zagreb, Croatia; 17 October 1990)

Largest win: Croatia 7 - 0 Australia (Zagreb, Croatia; 6 June 1998)

Worst defeat: Slovakia 4 - 1 Croatia (Bratislava, Slovakia; 20 April 1994)

World Cup Finals Appearances: 1998, 2002

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Croatia Match Results - Europe World Cup Qualifiers, Group 8

Date	Match	Result
12-Oct-2005	Hungary - Croatia	0:0
07-Sep-2005	Malta - Croatia	1:1 (0:1)
03-Sep-2005	Iceland - Croatia	1:3 (1:0)
04-Jun-2005	Bulgaria - Croatia	1:3 (0:1)
30-Mar-2005	Croatia - Malta	3:0 (2:0)
26-Mar-2005	Croatia - Iceland	4:0 (1:0)
09-Oct-2004	Croatia - Bulgaria	2:2 (2:0)
08-Sep-2004	Sweden - Croatia	0:1 (0:0)
04-Sep-2004	Croatia - Hungary	3:0 (1:0)

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