Small Nation, Big Impact: Croatia's Unforgettable World Cup Performances

Join us as we dive into the thrilling journey of Croatia, a small nation that has made a big impact on the world's biggest football stage - the FIFA World Cup. Despite their population of just under 4 million, Croatia has consistently punched above their weight, reaching the semi-finals and even the finals. From their independence in 1991 to their unforgettable performances in 1998, 2018, and 2022, we'll explore how this Balkan nation has become a breeding ground for top-level footballers like Davor Suker and Luka Modric. Whether you're a football fanatic or a casual viewer, this is a story of resilience, talent, and the true spirit of the underdog that you won't want to miss.
#Croatia
#WorldCup
#Underdogs
#Football
#Soccer
#FIFA
#DavorSuker
#LukaModric
#WorldCupHistory
#CroatianFootball
#WorldCupUnderdogs
#FootballStories
#WorldCupMoments
#CroatiaWorldCup
#Resilience

[@daliborsunjic6401]

For those of you who have been following Croatia since its independence in 1992, it is a mystery and a phenomenon, but not for us Croats. 144 years have passed since the Englishmen who worked in the County during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, of which Croatia was a part, brought the first ball. Fifteen years later the first matches were already played in Zagreb. From the creation of Yugoslavia in 1918 until its disintegration in 1992, Croats have always formed the basis of every national team in all sports alongside the Serbs. Ever since the First World Cup in Uruguay in 1930, when Croats dominated the national team of the former country that shared 3rd place. At the Croats, who made up the majority of the players of the then national team, did not participate in that championship due to the boycott of the Football Association of Yugoslavia, which was moved from Zagreb to Belgrade. In those national teams of the former state, there were other nations besides the two leading ones, but in much smaller numbers.And why are we like that? Well, primarily because of heritage. Most of the quality, like before the warriors, comes from the Dinaric regions. And genetically, our people are with those Croats in BiH and the former state is more than 2/3 autochthonous, i.e. indigenous to the greatest extent from the Illyrians. To whom the newcomers Slavs brought the language and which in genetics is less in the Croats than in, for example, Albania, which is considered Illyrian because of the language, unlike us who are linguistically Slavic. Not many people know that our ancestors, the Illyrians, together with the Celts and Germans, formed a powerful Roman army. And after that, during the migration of peoples and the mixing of the indigenous Illyrians with the Slavs and other minorities, the present-day Croats were born. . and in the 17th century, with the help of Venice and Austria-Hungary, they stopped Turkey, the biggest power at the time, which had reached Vienna. All the surrounding countries were occupied, Hungary for almost 200 years, including a good part of Croatia. But the Turks came far north to Vienna, but never they crossed the line in Croatia: Križevci-Virovitica-Karlovac-Sisak. They never occupied the Dalmatian coast, but only the interior. They broke their teeth there and remained forever behind that line and later on. That warrior mentality of ours surfaced then, as it does today, in sports. And then we were in a ratio of 5:70 with the Turks, just like today in sports with bigger nations. We were simply used to dealing with the big ones as small ones for centuries. And when we were in communities like today in the EU and not in our own independent state. We say it's in our blood, although it would be more correct to say it's in our genes.

[@footballthebeautifulgame6873]

Thanks for the history rundown. Very interesting.

[@lukasunjic750]

Underdogs no more...

[@M.C.1603]

Nice comment

[@renataskoko4519]

Welldone my Croatian brother!

[@Memron]

All that heritage for HDZ to plunder in modern times. What a story

[@goranratkovic9100]

Manje nacije a vise vrhunskih igraca fudbala nema do Hrvatske. Pozdrav iz Crne Gore.

[@daliborsunjic6401]

Pozdrav i Đetiću!

[@petarpetrovic3813]

pogledaj i olimpijade, uvik smo ili najbolji i u top 5 sa osvojenim medaljama na broj stanovnika...

[@goranratkovic9100]

@@petarpetrovic3813 .Vezao sam se za fudbal jer je ovo mali prostor da pocnem nabrajat ostale sportove. Sjetimo se rukometa , skijanja , vatrepola , plivanja , atletike itd itd. Samo ste mi podbacili u kosarci i odbojci. Pozdrav iz Crne Gore

[@pellevanlig245]

Konkurenciju u nogometu nam u tom slucaju cini jedino Urugvaj. Oni su na 3,5 mil stanovnika. Oko 300 000 manje od Hrvata.

[@daliborsunjic6401]

@@petarpetrovic3813 zaboravljaš da se u hokeju na ledu u Hrvatskoj igrao KHL.A košarka i odbojka su bile prije jače a pale su zbog manjka ljudi u svemu pa i u tim sportovima.Jer se dosta ljudi iselilo.Ali pošto je NETO plaća za 200€ manja nego u npr. Njemačkoj sad je obrnut proces useljavanja.Nehrvata.Ne samo bogatih iz Europe ili Amerike.Nego siromašnijih iz Argentine,Brazila a kamoli manjih zemalja J.Amerike,Meksika,Srednje Amerike,Mađarske,Ukrajine,Filipina,Nepala,Indije i tko zna odakle.I tko zna šta to nosi pa i u sportu.

[@prochuba]

France won the 1st place in 2018, but Croatia won the hearts of football lovers all around the world. Anyone who watched it knows what happened in the finals. Regards

[@peterstone3577]

Small country, great nation!

[@MarcMarquez-bh6ej]

Ty

[@itsdreamtoonYT]

We saved Europe's butt from the Turks

[@powderskier5547]

I dont think we will see the end of Croatia after Modric, they have so much natural talent

[@TB-pu9qm]

End? No. Less impresive results? Likely....for some time

[@drophatinc]

As a Croatian man living in California, I was overjoyed to see us do so well in most of the World Cups we played in, 2018 and 2022 in particular. Hrvatska Zauvijek!

[@footballthebeautifulgame6873]

Nice. Indeed. Glad you enjoyed the video.

[@frankman2]

I'm son of a croat, and born in uruguay, so .... there

[@Kmeeeeeeeeeee]

Frank❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🇭🇷 CROATIA N HEART❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️👍👏👏

[@mariocroatia9321]

You're a Croat

[@thebig12conference73]

🇭🇷 and 🇺🇾 are the two small nations that pack a big punch. There is one last thing left; win the World Cup. They can do it.

[@footballthebeautifulgame6873]

Yup.

[@jadranlucin5457]

Zaprešić Boys - Neopisivo [Official Video] / Zapresic Boys kzbin.info/www/bejne/aJTbf2loaqxnmZY

[@orahovavucichitlerdacicgoe7223]

Croatia will win the world cup is just a matter of when that is for sure.

[@jenniferbrdar4605]

We are hyper competitive. Doesn't matter what we do. I show livestock and judge both meat and livestock here in the USA and I wear a Croat flag on my meat judging hard hat, a Croat pin on my lapel at livestock judging, I wear a Croatian flag armband when I show sheep. I am part of Oklahoma Panhandle State University's agriculture program. I literally will not accept anything less than top five in all classes at all of the major livestock shows and meats/livestock judging contests. My Tata expected nothing but domination over all of my rivals. My Tata started training me at the age of five. I am 44 now. I will teach the next generation to be just as clever, astute and hungry to win.

[@footballthebeautifulgame6873]

Interesting take on the culture of Croatia and its people. Thank you for sharing.

[@kocostamatis3080]

ŽIVIO 🇭🇷❤🇭🇷

[@mario2967]

You can't believe, how beautiful it is to be Croatian.

[@ridjobradikapetantrokuka3834]

I don't know why people think Croatia was born in the 90s, it has been a country since the 7th century, and a lot of Croatian footballers played for Yugoslavia too, and the results were pretty good.

[@powderskier5547]

But heart was never in it playing under serboslavia

[@ridjobradikapetantrokuka3834]

@@powderskier5547 and you know this by being a clinical psychologist and knowing the people in question personally 30 years ago I reckon? Don't be silly, they probably played as well as they could and it was just like any other team. If you are implying Croatia today has a lot of heart compared to other teams, yeah, our national team does have a lot of heart. Google Vrsaljko with the flag, it's about the best explanation of it all.

[@pellevanlig245]

Exactly, the football tradition didn´t start with the Independce War. They have achieved great things in the 80s, 70s, 60s ,....and backwards. As players and coaches.

[@jdalbion]

Yep. Dinamo Zagreb won the Intertoto Cup (which was something like Champions League/Europa League) back in 67' vs Leeds United (knocked out also Juventus & Frankfurt)

[@segetking_6517]

​@@jdalbion well, Intertoto cup wasn't really like UCL, but something like UEL or Conference League. But yeah, they have won it, also Hajduk Split was a real European giant back in 80s when they were in UCL semis and quarter-finals a couplw of times.

[@propatria3517]

Croatia is the Uruguay from Europe....😊Since the 1990`s ,they are producing world high-class players.Boban,Boksic,Suker,Prosinecki,Bilic....

[@footballthebeautifulgame6873]

Nice analogy.

[@jadranlucin5457]

Štimac,Asanović, Jarni, Goran Vlaović....i.t.d. 😂 🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷

[@brankobelfranin8815]

They produced excellent players before 1990s also, Bernard Vukas, Branko Skoblar, Velimir Zajec, Ivan Gudelj, etc etc

[@balkanboy864]

Proud to be a Croat!🇭🇷✌️

[@danicastrapac1832]

Small nation, big ❤🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷

[@iv6872]

Very well made video here with a bit of history. Croatia is an enigma in world football, there are dozens of football obsessed smaller nations all over the world but none can hope to match Croatia's qualifying and tournament record. The Croats seem to thrive on being discounted and underestimated. New subscriber, keep it up!

[@footballthebeautifulgame6873]

Thank you your kind words. Glad you enjoyed the video and thank you for subscribing

[@biser_9583]

Gods Croatia✊️🇭🇷

[@goranratkovic9100]

Vezao sam se za fudbal jer je ovo mali prostor da pocnem nabrajat ostale sportove. Sjetimo se rukometa , skijanja , vatrepola , plivanja , atletike itd itd. Samo ste mi podbacili u kosarci i odbojci. Pozdrav iz Crne Gore

[@LarvaS-hj1eq]

Hrvatska košarka je jedna od većih tragedija sporta općenito. Nepojmljivo da se država koja vuče tradiciju od igrača svijetskih talenata poput Ćosića, Skansija, Plećaša do Petrovića, Kukoča, Rađe, itd. i klubova poput Jugoplastike, Zadra, Šibenke i Cibone danas jedva bori za kvalifikacije na Europska prvenstva, a o klubovima da i ne pričam. Čisti primjer šta politika, nepotizam i ne poštivanje tradicije može učinit od nekad sporta broj 2 u državi.

[@MJ-ul8bq]

Forgot to mention made the quarter finals twice in the Euro Cups 1996 and 2008, and were finalists in the Nations league 2023 silver medal

[@frimmbits]

I give some credit to the little man LM10. He has always been impressive

[@vojvoda]

Vatreni best world cup 2018! Unbelivable! 👍⚽️⚽️🔥🔥🔥

[@markonemaric3288]

Croatia 🇭🇷 Victoria ✌️

[@SteveRadich1928]

Hrvatsko srce = Hrvatsko zlato!

[@frankdux2057]

2022 was most surprising as they were older and didn’t have a top striker anymore as Mandzukic retired. 2018 and 1998 many had Croatia as dark horses to make a deep run in the World Cup not so in 2022.

[@footballthebeautifulgame6873]

Agreed. Nobody expected them to go so deep into the tournament.

[@anto-gc8ku]

i expected!🏆🏅@@footballthebeautifulgame6873

[@orahovavucichitlerdacicgoe7223]

What do you mean nobody you mean brittis football pundits I will give you an advance do not listen to dis guy they are full of hot air they mostly favoring a teams that is different..

[@brankobelfranin8815]

They werent actually older, the only ones older were Vida, Lovren, Modric.

[@ivansmiljan367]

We have medals in every sport and we are always in top

[@josephgeturo9328]

Unforgettable worldcup

[@999apophis666]

as a Croat living in Japan i am proud to be Croatian and enjoyed all the world cups we had so far and new ones to come

[@darionizic6099]

Proud to be Croatian.

[@matoturcinovic]

We are football giants!

[@joeyb8413]

Suker legend..but let me add...Don't forget that Alen Boksic stiker/midfileder was injured, he was a legend and possibly Croatia wins with him playing, Asanovic in midfield maestro, Robert Prosinecki probably pound for pound best player in Europe at the time, Zvonimir Boban who kicked communism out of football without fear as he knew in his heart communism was wrong (we all today should have 1 percent of his courage against leftists communists we face), Jarni running up and down the flanks, 2 goals from a French defender from outside of the box, was French karma to win, but heart and souls of neutrals were for Croatia, a nation born, Godbless football and all fans...to this day, win or lose if Croatia plays i have tears of joy...

[@mariostekic]

💪⚽️🇭🇷❤️😎

[@lavonekuhse]

If you look at the players , they are not underdogs , only to football casuals. In 1998 you had world class players like Suker , Boban , Jarni and really good players like Soldo, Stanic , Simic,Bilic, Prosinecki .. also we missed another world class player in Alen Boksic that year .... these are players from Champions League Winners and no underdogs at all , ssme as in 2018 and 2022 with Rakitic, Modric,Perisic, Mandzukic,Brozovic even though i think the best Crostia has ever been was in 1996 if we had a Healthy Aken Boksic back than we would have been the best team in Europe

[@brankobelfranin8815]

Sorry but Prosinecki was world class even at 70%

[@vlatkoturkalj3877]

Hvala Vam...

[@adrianogranda7758]

🇭🇷 thank you from the ❤️🤍💙 !!!

[@footballthebeautifulgame6873]

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed.

[@adrianogranda7758]

I ' m impressed , as a Fan since 1989 and a Player ! 🤙✌️

[@SuperBartul]

Proud🎉

[@stevepodrebarac2303]

Nice video 🇭🇷🔥💪⚽️

[@footballthebeautifulgame6873]

Thanks. 🙏🏾

[@zu4eka532]

How grandious is the NAME.OF CROATIA. OUR BUTIFUL COUNTRY. SMALL BUT VERY VERY STRONG. OUR LAND IS UNBROKEN. WE WAS STRONG DURING HISTORY. WE LOVE OUR LAND FOREVER. WE SAY ALWAYS ❤️🇭🇷 CROATIA OVERALL🇭🇷❤️CROATIA THE LAND OF TOUSEND ISLAND. WE LOVE YOU UOR BUTIFUL 🇭🇷❤CROATIA🇭🇷❤️. LONG LIVE.

[@Semprini537]

I'm Croatian and football is not my game (don't like sports) but anyway,this is amazing. All my friends are football aficionados,so,i learned few things

[@footballthebeautifulgame6873]

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it

[@iliketofart2945]

Unforgettable pilsner

[@_Kre10]

Bro Croatia was not born in the nineties..

[@footballthebeautifulgame6873]

Agreed. But that’s what we chose to cover. 👍🏽

[@ytubeu7450]

14 stoljeće

[@leriameylanoysuello1221]

unforgetablegamee

[@igor31ist]

Dajte mi 100000 Hrvata i osvojiti cu svijet.Napoleon Bonaparte

[@mariopezic4247]

Gadno bi se napoleon zeznuo...nebi mi htjeli osvajat tuđe

[@user-bh3zb4sb5d]

Samo brani svoje. Nista vise.

[@davormestrovic5317]

nije to Mario mandzukic, vec Ivan Perisic! (6:38)

[@satyanandakashyap]

Yup. Thanks for pointing it out. ❤

[@ytubeu7450]

Yes

[@user-lu2jn5xk8n]

I am from croatia

[@buzzerbeaterbuzzerbeater9001]

👍🏼

[@nohlavopi8617]

ratničko srce..ništa više..ništa manje.. mi ginemo za loptu i pobjedu od prvog razreda osnovne škole

[@damirhlobik6488]

Svijet je vidio da je 2018. Francuska morala biti prvak svijeta, nepostojeći prekršaj i jako sumnjivi jedanajsterac su bili dovoljni, uz Argentinskog suca.... Argentinu neću ni komentirati jer su i sljepci sve vidjeli. Hrvatska, nažalost ali i vrlo očito, nema "ono" da bude prva.

[@Splyco]

history facts: Napoleon: "Give me 100 000 croatian soldiers and I will conqure all world"

[@nikolabacic11]

Balkan nation :) :) who is ? Croatia is Mediterranean and Central European country !

[@footballthebeautifulgame6873]

According to these guys www.britannica.com/place/Balkans 😊

[@powderskier5547]

Your 100% right, it's central Euro not balkan, it pisses me off when they keep referring to it as a balkan nation, then Italy, Hungary and Austria are also balkan nations

[@powderskier5547]

I have to disagree with those guys, as I disagree with humans building pyramids and other ancient structures we were taught in school @@footballthebeautifulgame6873

[@mariomarino3020]

@@footballthebeautifulgame6873 Your guys are average copy/pasters who live on old glory. Balkan was Turkish geography for their vassals in Europe. Croats stopped their invasion and defended Europe from them. Thank you very much.

[@drazenmolan]

@@footballthebeautifulgame6873 britain wiki , you KIDDING me , you aint idea whats balkan is or to signify

[@iliketofart2945]

The amount of pilsners I drank during these 2 world cups only God knows

[@footballthebeautifulgame6873]

Haha. Nice. Cheers 🍻

[@leonsimunic]

Yes

[@jenniferbrdar4605]

I drank, cussed and prayed to God, the Virgin Mary and my Dad so our Croat boys could win. I polished off three cases of beer during the entire World Cup.

[@iliketofart2945]

@jenniferbrdar4605 I hope you can beat your record this summer. I will try to drink more too.

[@KEDER737]

Some tranquilisers, too. But it was worth it! Igraj moja Hrvatska!!

[@ST1973]

France team don't have french people in the team, enough say'n

[@mario2967]

That's not true, Olivier Giroud is a French native (but his grandmothers was Italian)

[@darius1293]

😂😂😂​@@mario2967

[@zvonko2633]

Croatia, once have the strongest man on the Earth, and the smartest man on the Earth, the man wasAleksic andNikola Tesla

I wish you would stop saying that we are a nation born in 90s. We've been around since 7th century...

[@r2zdena]

Yeah, but we weren't a nation

[@splinband]

Fact: Croatia is not an underdog basically since 1996 / 1998!

[@antonkunac8249]

🇭🇷

[@markmalic7450]

Croatia is not part of the Balkans

[@danny70708]

❤🤍💙

[@mariotodoric5821]

Mala nacija,ali zato borci...samo ću reći, Fifi i "velikom nogometu"nije,niti će ikad biti u interesu da Hrvat bude prvak...za to imaju "poštene"sudce na terenu...oni udaraju,sve ok,mi udaramo 11metara😂😂😂uvijek tako

[@MarcMarquez-bh6ej]

Im Croatian

[@pellevanlig245]

Balkans?

[@marioloncar2169]

Croats are Illiryc, slavic and germanic mix. Thats why we are good in sports and wars 😁

[@matijakumaric4851]

Mi nemamo nikakvu prijavu germansku krv u nama to su laži

[@davormestrovic5317]

ZDS!

[@prokletocool]

Impact on what ?😂

[@cibetka76]

I thnink Croatians are good in sports because they are Serbs.

[@kocostamatis3080]

Oh...I see...so why are Serbs not as good at sports?

[@Wache3]

...only thing is - you are not smart enough to think in common sense...

[@rcw-europe]

Yeah, in fact the whole world are Serbs, they just don’t realise. According to you guys, the real border of Serbia is at the edge of Andromeda galaxy 😂

[@Wache3]

@@rcw-europe 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@cibetka76]

@@rcw-europe Andromeda is heart of Serbia

[@imeprezime642]

Bog i Hrvati!!! ✌✌❤❤

[@miranblazek5303]

If you call it Balkan, you must mention mideuropean, and mediterranian as well

[@dalibork]

Yes. Because the Balkan peninsula is so called because of the Balkan mountain on the border of Bulgaria and Serbia. Serbia has its own name for that mountain. They call it Stara Planina, meaning The Old mountain. So it's not clear to me, man from Zagreb which is further west then Vienna on the map of Europe, why the hell Croatia or Slovenia are called Balkan nations?

[@ytubeu7450]

BALKAN je planina u Bugarskoj.

[@goranm5985]

Komiža, Island Vis

[@freelancerxxx]

Croats should say at least thank you to Bosnia..without Bosnians that made bulk of Croatian teams since independence they would have been same as Serbia in Football.

[@markobakovic627]

What ??? Us to thank Turkey for 400 years of occupation in Bosnia 😂