Croatia head to the 2024 European Championship this year with hopes to finally break their quarter-final deadlock and lift this summer's trophy.
Zlatko Dalić manages the South-Eastern European side in Germany and will be hoping to better 2020's competition where they fell short in the round of 16. In an all-important eight goal thriller as the knockout stages began, the Spaniards triumphed over Croatia by five goals to three in extra time.
Luka Modrić will be wearing the armband, marking his debut for Croatia in the March of 2006. Looking likely to be his last tournament in the red-and-white chequered shirt, the Real Madrid star will be desperate to be victorious in his final international campaign.
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Has the Croatian boss got what it takes?
Appointed in the 2016/17 season after multiple years of management in Saudi Arabia, Zlatko Dalić remains in the Croatia dugout for another international competition after being a runner-up in the UEFA Nations League last season.
The 2023 final saw them head-to-head with Luis de la Fuente's Spain in which it went to the very end but Dalić's men could not see it through on penalties.
His first tournament was very successful, reaching the final of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, beating Argentina and England along the way, but France was the side to kill their dreams of being World Cup champions.
In the UEFA Nations League A, Dalić couldn't make anything of the 2018, 2020 or 2022 competitions.
The 2022 World Cup was a huge tournament for Dalić as he waved goodbye to the Brazilians in the quarter-final as they won against the South Americans on penalties, but it was Argentina who were the ones triumphant in the semi-final with a comfortable 3-0 win. They were victorious in their third-place play-off following this.
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How did Croatia qualify for Euro 2024?
Croatia were placed in Group D for the European Championship qualifying stage. Accompanying them was Wales, Armenia, Türkiye and Latvia.
The first game came as a shock for Dalić's men as Wales equalised to make it one goal a piece in the 93rd minute. Türkiye were next up in their opening set of fixtures, which was a comfortable 2-0 victory away from home.
Latvia and Armenia followed in September 2023, Croatia dominated in both games scoring six goals across the two. However, this momentum didn't continue when Türkiye won 1-0 to mark their first loss of the qualifiers. Wales were also winners in the next fixture.
The Croatians ended well with two brilliant wins against Latvia and Armenia once again. This saw them finish in second place, sending them to the Euro's alongside Türkiye who topped the group.
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Will Luka Modrić lead Croatia to glory this summer?
Being a twelve-time winner of the Croatian Footballer of the Year, an award presented to the top player by the Croatian Football Federation, Luka Modrić is the man to keep your eye on.
Now 38-years old, this tournament is extremely likely to be his final one, wearing the captain's armband once again.
His consistent solid performances for Spurs saw him make the big move to Real Madrid in 2012, where he has gained over 500 appearances for the prestigious club.
During his extravagant career, he has won 30 trophies, six of them being UEFA Champions League titles and three being from LaLiga.
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Predicted Lineup
Many fans will be wondering how are Croatia likely to structure their side and who will make the starting 11 in their first game.
Dalić lined up his side in a 4-3-3 formation for a pre-dominant amount of the qualifying games.
Here is VAVEL's predicted side:
Livaković; Juranović, Šutalo, Gvardiol, Stanisić; Modrić, Brozović, Kovačić; Perišić, Kramarić, Pašalić
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Group B - Croatia, Spain, Albania, Italy
Saturday 15 June marks Croatia's first game in the Euro's against Spain at 5pm BST.
They then face Albania in their second match of the competition, which falls on Wednesday 19 June at 2pm.
Finally, they play Italy on Monday 24 June at 8pm with Croatian hopes that this will be the day they confirm their place in the knockout stages.
Live coverage for all of these games will come from BBC or ITV.
A lot of excitement will come for many fans in this group for the upcoming tournament. It is quite clear to see this will be one of the most competitive groups in the competition.
Going off the men's FIFA World Rankings, Croatia sit in tenth spot, with Italy and Spain in the two positions above them. So, if these rankings are to fall how they should, Dalić and the Croatian side may face disappointment in the group stage this summer.
However, it is well-known that in international tournaments that Croatia have always been a bit of a bogey team for these top countries.
Croatia do have the squad and could do enough to make it to the knockout stages and potentially replicate their recent runs in major tournaments.
