The 2018 World Cup qualifying schedule was released on Saturday.
And even with Croatia coming out of Pot 1, the strongest Europe has to offer, the Vatreni dodged a huge bullet. Croatia was drawn last into Group I, which consists of former foes Iceland, Ukraine, Turkey and newcomers Finland. They avoided Group A, the Group of Death, which landed the Netherlands, France and Sweden together.
On paper, it shouldn’t be a problem qualifying automatically for Croatia. All group winners book their tickets to Russia while the best 8 (out of 9) 2nd placed teams go to a 2-legged playoff. The Vatreni just recently played Iceland for the first time in a two-legged playoff with a berth to Brazil on the line. The match in Iceland ended 0-0 with the return leg in Zagreb going 2-0 in Croatia’s favor.
Croatia most recently played Ukraine in group play qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. Yep, that was the qualifying campaign we’ve all erased from our memories where Croatia were dismantled by England 9-2 over two matches and drew Ukraine twice to finish third in the group and miss out on South Africa. It was the only World Cup Croatia has missed since becoming an independent nation.
And then there’s Turkey. The team that broke Croatian hearts with a last second goal in the Euro 2008 quarterfinal. Although Croatia got their revenge, knocking Turkey out of the Euro 2012 playoffs, embarrassing them 3-0 in Istanbul, more of the same can be expected this time around. This Turkey team is not what they were in 2008 and could even miss out on Euro 2016 festivities. Finland rounds out the group; a team Croatia has never faced before.
Croatia opens up qualifying at home against Turkey on September 5th, 2016. And for you North American globetrotters, Croatia face Iceland in Reykavik in June of 2017. It would be a nice little pitstop on the way to your European summer vacation.
We don’t get the results Ziva because the fix is in against us since 1998.
2002……………Ecuador Legit failure to advance
2004……………England Fix was in against France Tudor
2006…………..Australia Fix was in Offside goal Tomas playing volleyball
2008……………. Eduardo was targeted and had his leg broken for putting England out
2010 Didn’t qualify because England lost on purpose to the Ukraine in the final game to put us out Eng Red Card PK
2012…………..Spain Offside Handball goal…..6 yellows for Cro 0 for Spain 2 glaring missed PKs
2014…………..Mexico Fix was in against Brazil….lost a game we should have won or at least tied…then needed only a tie against Mexico instead of chasing the win.
Brazil was helped by the refs to get out of the group and advance to the semis
Not a bad group but not exactly a cakewalk. Iceland are a team that is steadily improving having beaten the Netherlands and Czech Republic in the past year. They were not up to par in the playoffs against us for the world cup but I expect them to do their homework and make a go at it against us for this qualifying round. The Ukraine are difficult. They routinely give England headaches having been in their group a few times in recent memory and as we all know weRe unbeaten against us in 2010 qualifying. They will be the toughest test without a doubt. The Turks are no longer a serious threat but they will still provide decent opposition. The Fins are the weakest team but are capable of springing a surprise. I think this group is harder than our current group one and Cro will have to play every match at 100 percent. Also there’s only the one automatic spot making the margin for error slimmer.
This is to good ol Ziva. Isn’t he the one that was saying Cro being thrown out of the euros for swastikagate would be a good thing for Croatian soccer? That is bout the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. When is missing the World Cup a good thing? Missing a Wold Cup is a huge setback for any national program when you don’t finish with enough points let alone if you miss out due to an overzealous punishment for an act of vandalism carried out by socialist losers. Even the single point removed was excessive.
Wouldn’t Turkey (or any team) want to finish first or second.
Outside of the minnows of Europe, most teams are competitive these days. Scorelines of 4-0 or 5-0 are not common. Every team, even the Estonias and Latvias of the world are prepared to play the top teams.
That said, the draw could have been much tougher. Kum Kovac is laying back at his Austrian home sipping wine and smoking a cigar laughing at this group.
From an entertainment standpoint, I would have preferred some bigger names (Italy, France, Sweden). Always more fun when you get a match with a big name or big player that draws the attention of the world. We dont have that in this group.
I think that we might even get 3rd or 4th in this group behind Ukraine and Turkey and Iceland this is a highly competitive group. Turkey haven’t qualified for a tournament since Euro 2008 so they will want to finish first or second and last time out we couldn’t defeat Ukraine over the two legs we played them in 0-0 away and 2:2 at home for World Cup 2010 qualifying. Finland will also be competitive.
In the Germany game in 1996, Suker scored to tie it and then 5 minutes later Stimac got the straight red card. We went from jubilation to WTF was that?
Ive been following the NT From the start.. man good times.. staying up till midnight to watch Croatia play Turkey in euro ’96.. haha.. and the world cup ’98.. i was a zombie at school the whole time there ! hehe..
Some great memories, sadly all pretty much in the early days (96/98).. still pissed about that euro 96 germany loss.. sammer clattering into our defender and then the goal being allowwed to stand.. as for jerkan.. wtf.. was he meant to be playing basketball?
hehe..i still remember all those games from the 90s clearly..
i remember after the 96 germany loss my brother consoling me by saying well on of the german guys names’ describes their whole team
of course he was referring to KUNTZ.. which was correct because they were a back of cunts for sure. LOL
3rd game failures have more to do with old tired legs then anything else.
For many of those tournaments we had an old over the hill crew that by game 3 were done.
You need YOUNG legs in these tornaments.
We now have a world class core and young legs galore!
We have players who have WON the champions league finals for the last 3 years in a row.
It is the young depth that makes a difference in these tournaments.
Kliksman cutting Landon Donovan was classic German coaching (I would have used for 20 mins). This Is how Germans win major tournaments. No nostalgia, no politics, you can’t train and run every day? A wier desen.
Time after time we put out old legs in game 3.
Soccer is a young legs sport.
If we were Germany then Srna would of stepped down already.
@ Svima
Don’t be fooled by “pop” psychology that hovers over the Cartesian split.
Sports is an embodied experience. You need physical saw power combined with cultivated skill to be a world champion.
We now have more collective raw power in the talent pool then ever.
What we do need is a world class coach. But we will enough player power to make a run.
Bog i Hrvati
I have to give Mexico some credit, I thought we would easily beat them. They continue to make it out of the group stage unlike us.
Also Mexican players know how to shoot the ball from long distance. Watch highlights of Liga mx and these players on the national team are consistently shooting from long distance. I can not remember the last time an HNS player made a goal from outside the box.
Maminjo has a good memory, I was gonna write Khan and I woulda looked like an idiot.
Nikola Jerkan red card. Not sure but I think we scored when down too ten men. Nikola Jurcevic running at every German like a mad man, Germans shit themselves coughed it up came out to Suker rounded the keeper 1-1. First 20 mins we were all over them. I remember the pom commentator, “the Germans are at sixes and sevens.”
That Germany loss was a shame.
Stupid handball by Jerkan giving the Germans an undeserved goal, Klinsmann only receiving a yellow for his harsh tackle (he even admitted it should have been red), only for Štimac to get zero leniency from his tackle and getting a red card himself.
Somehow we still tie the game up after being down a man against GERMANY (that dummy on Kopke was my favourite Šuker goal of all time) only for Sammer to score a winning goal with a foul on the play.
Euro 96 was fun, but for the players and fans it seemed like we were just happy to be there (which we were).
If anyone didn’t watch Euro 96 you’ve just summed it up beautifully.
We also had a good start at our first international tournament, EURO 96′ with wins versus the Turks on a late Vlaovic goal ion a rainy night, the through ball from Asanovic to setup that goal was sublime. That was followed by a resounding win versus the defending Euro champions Denmark.
Then Ciro went batty and started a B Squad versus Portugal and we got shit pumped 3-0.
The QF in Manchester was a great game but we went out versus the Germans 2-1. I recall that game had sone dubious officiating.
Piss, I’m getting old. I remember that tournir like it was yesterday. Think I even recorded done of the games on VHS! Haha.
@Slavonac from Canada
When it comes to penalties I agree. I always knew we were in trouble when that Turkey game went to penalties, Croatia should’ve won shouldn’t even be in a shoot out, Turkey happy to be in a shoot out.
@Ziva Istina
Of course you need a strong start to any tournament to go well. France 98 Jamaica, Euro 2008 Austria and WC 2014 Brazil in Brazil. We beat Cameroon, and Mexico have the edge going into the last match with a draw being good enough for them. So the first match was key, we score first and it’s looking good, Brazil get a penalty that I believe was the wrong call and it all goes pear shaped. Good draw always helps.
Hammer, I understand your point but it cannot be denied that tradition and history often follow a team/nation….until we rewrite history and change our course.
There are traits in every culture, we have ours!
So a team in 2016 has mental midget disease because the teams in 2002, 2004, 2006 couldn’t get out of the group stages. So you think this team carries all the baggage of previous failings on their shoulders. 2012 was tough to take, because we should’ve beat Italy and then a draw would’ve been good enough against Spain. Played well against Spain, their goal was offside by the way. I’m a Kovac fan but the Mexico loss was his fault, it’s all about how you approach the game, they went into that game with a defensive mindset trying to pinch it late.
Armada- If Kranjcar can somehow come to MLS, I’d pay to watch him live at least once. He was the first soccer/football player that I became a fan of. That seems pretty hilarious & sad now.
No shot that picture of Kranjcar is recent. That has to be 07-08. He’s aged considerably over the years (why the hell do I know this?).
Ziva- I’m 22 years old now. Sadly, I was a late bloomer getting into the sport. The first game I ever watched was Croatia-Brazil during the World Cup in 2006. Kranjcar played really well that game, so he became one of my favorites immediately. Why lie to people that I’ve been watching the NT since 98? I was five years old during that World Cup..
Wish I got into the sport earlier. Oh well, I’ve enjoyed watching the sport over the last nine years and feel like I can formulate an opinion on most topics.
@Allen Outraged…..you didn’t start following the national team until 2006? What are you 16 now?
That Bleacher Report article is from last year, but I am sure the diapsora hrvati appreciate it.
If Kranjcar wasn’t Cico’s kid, nobody would pay attention to him.
Best thing for Kranjcar would be for Mamic to go to jail so Kranjcar can return and finish his carrer at Dinamo. Mamic made him the sacraficial lamb back in 2002 (I think that was the year) when he forced him out of Dinamo.
Dinamo played the half season as bad as you could (like jadan, mali i nemocan hajduk-like) and were forced to end the year playing in the “Liga za opstanak”. Mamic wanted players to take a pay cut that winter and Kranjcar said no. As he should have. Dude had a fully guaranteed contract, so why should he be forced to reduce his pay. I’m sure most of you don’t reduce your salary even if the company you are working for is hurting. Well, Kranjcar didn’t and Strucnjak Stimac came to get him.
Either way, that was a long time ago.
And look at Kranjcar now……..eating burgers and wrecking marriages.
and is this his new piece!?
http://www.vecernji.hr/media/cache/99/a4/99a486d4833ece16f56f9b42705c12ad.jpg
bozeeeeeeeeeeeee, who the fuck let him outside with that haircut?!
ahhh speaking of Quarter Pound Kranjcar, a decent read on him from Aleksander “Shh don’t tell everyone I’m a huge Jugo” Holiga
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2137497-niko-kranjcar-whats-next-for-croatias-forgotten-genius
from Bleacher Report too! diaspora friendly!!!!
I say he goes back to Hajduk this year and they take the title back. Ziva would then institute the capital “H” back into their name and potentially drop the “nemocan” as well!
Match Schedule.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_%E2%80%93_UEFA_Group_I
Ziva can call it mental midget disease. In the end, it’s nothing more than just a stupid generality or as many call it “The Skip Bayless disease”
I didn’t start following the NT until 2006, so I won’t comment on 02 and 04 (pretty evident that England was better than Croatia from what I read).
Anyone that uses Euro 2012 as an example is silly. 90 percent of the world from analysts/fans knew that Spain and Italy were more than likely going to advance. Croatia didn’t have enough firepower up top/stability in the back to advance. This was a team that lost to Greece in an embarrassing display in October 2011. Who could forget them losing to Georgia as well during that dreadful qualifying campaign? The fact that they pushed Spain and Italy to the edge was impressive. They deserve to be commended, not criticized….except Rakitic (still can’t get over that).
From what I remember, the 06 team wasn’t all that great. A lot of declining talent (Prso, Babic, Kovac brothers, Tudor). You knew things were pretty rough, when Kranjcar was viewed as the most promising talent in the starting lineup. Australia had so much great talent coming up like Cahill, Kewell, Neill, etc. Brazil was a superpower in that group as well. 06 team gets a pass for me based on their lack of talent.
The Mexico loss was pretty inexcusable. I know most European countries (Portugal, Italy, England, Russia, etc) all were eliminated in group stage and were disappointing throughout the tournament. That helped me get over the Mexico loss a bit. European teams generally couldn’t handle the rigorous climate. It was still unacceptable to collapse like that. In general that second half was mostly Mexico on the attack, despite only needing a tie to advance. Fitness probably played a factor. The lack of creativity and speed were the bigger factors in that defeat.
The whole mental midget thing is nothing but a generality to me. It’s a fun joke/gimmick to throw around, along with Ziva’s eight repetitive lines. You’d expect him to come up with new material staying in the basement all these months. Oh well.
We’re as predictable as the sun. A stinker in the first game. A great second game to get everyones hopes up and then we piss it away in the third game. I’m done with over praising our potential until I see some results that warrant it.
As always, I just want into the knockout rounds.
In honor of the pairing of Macedonia and Albania in the same World Cup qualifying group, here is the Key and Peele Macedonia vs. Albania sketch:
http://www.downvids.net/key-amp-peele-macedonian-cafe-592508.html
Hopefully we break that streak next year at the Euros. Croatia should be at worst a #2 seed in their group. So they won’t have a group like 2004 (England, France) or 2012 (Spain, Italy) where they are clearly favored to be out after the group stage. If we can’t make it out of a watered down Euro group, then it would be a big disappointment. Again.
Every 10 years we make out of the group stage
1998
2008
2018
By following that logic, Italy will make the WC Final
again Ziva…well said and all true!
I was apprehensive to say we were better than Mexico in this past World Cup because on paper, we had some better players but there’s that element of playing for your colors and knowing how to increase the intensity, play like you want it and know how to get the result….we haven’t demonstrated that very often and apart from getting a tie vs Italy when we play them, we still haven’t graduated to being a credible and responsible team.
I guess what happened to you happens to many of us as in the example you gave regarding Mexico in last years game. I also get caught up in the name dropping…Kovacic, Modric, Mandzukic, Rakitic, Perisic….and then our younger subs. The reality is always in the performances and often times, we end up believing we’ve arrived, when we haven’t yet! Paper names are not necessarily reality…just because we’ve seen Kovacic dribble through and make an incredible play on some occasions doesn’t mean he will do this in our line-up regularly, he doesn’t do it at the club level…and the same goes for those we have highly touted as part of our future….Brozovic, Kramaric, Halilovic, Rebic, Pjaca and so on. They all have the potential to be very good…but once again, we need them all playing well regularly and together….
mental midget disease is a tad harsh but realistic. hopefully we can change the course and look of our team in the next 12-18 months and get consistency, maybe then we can call ourselves potential competitors!
The San Jose Sharks of football
LOL
I wouldn’t say we were expected to go through against Mexico. That was a toss up. Ecuador and Australia were winnable games. England in 2004 was clearly better than Cro and tough to expect us to beat Spain.
Mexico knows how to do a few things:
A. their fans know how to piss in tiplock bags and then whip it at opposing fans
B. They know how to qualify for WCs
C. They know how to get through the group phase of WCs.
I’m always to first to say how you should separate your emotions when discussing and betting sports……and boy did I learn that lesson at last year’s WC. When the draw took place in December 2013 for the WC, I came out right away and said Mexico were favorites, along with Brazil to get out of the group. I think most of the people on this site said Cro would advance and then started with the name calling at me (which is fine, I have said that I will carry the “kriz”). But, I got caught up in wanting to beleive we were not mental midgets, when in fact we were, and lost a good amount of money on that Mexico-Cro game.
Here is what we know about Cro when it comes to international tourneys……we need to have a strong start (98 and 2008), because if we don’t and have to chase points to qualify, history suggests we won’t.
Call it mental midget disease or what you will.
Are we the San Jose Sharks of world football?
They can’t handle the pressure the worst were the Ecuador, Australia and Mexico because we were expected to go through.
2002……………Ecuador
2004……………England
2006…………..Australia
2012…………..Spain
2014…………..Mexico
Five chances in the last match of the group phase where a win gets us through into the knockout round. 0-5 in those opportunities.
Mexico beat us in 2002 and 2014 both times we played shit against them. When Croatia needs that big win in a tournament
they can’t do it even in Euro 2012 we needed to defeat Italy. Turkey in Euro 2008. Mexico in 2014.
That’s totally true and also a concern. We have to learn how to win those bigger games…Mexico is filled with players from their league and they looked much better than we did last year. We can brag about our talent and say we have world class players, but the talking is done on the field, not on these kinda websites!
We have mental midget disease in Cro.
Stay with me here……..In 2002 WC, 2004 Euro, 2006 WC, 2012 Euro and 2014 WC……….We played in the third game of the group phase in all those years and had the chance to advance to the knockout round. And guess what took place?????? We didn’t get the result we needed. Needed a win against Mexico last year and we shit the bed.
I didn’t include 1998 and 2008 in tha tlist because we qualified for the knockout round after two group games.
We have witnessed that if we need a result in the third group game, we won’t get it because of mental midget disease.
I know some are talking about “erasing the memories” from 2008 or the 2010 qualifiers.
I hope our players don’t do that.
I hope that if and when we go into PK’s again, guys like Rakitic and Modric remember their misses and go into their PK’s with more confidence and being more cool about them.
Or the feeling of not qualifying for a big tournament like WC 2010.
They shouldn’t kill themselves over these things – but some of this shouldn’t be completely forgotten here. We have enough mental midgets on the team as is, but we need (as best as we can) to learn from our mistakes here….
Young players getting to play against a team like Argentina at full strength, no way meaningless. Like you said a few days later we had a legit game, that’s why play the kids, when can you play the kids all at once if you don’t have friendlies like that?
He had no choice but to give the young kids a chance in that meaningless game. We had a legit game to play a few days later.
That game never should have been scheduled in the first place.
Agree with Dannyj, Soul Champ’s positivity much appreciated. Good talking football in this positive light. The thing I like about Kovac, is like he did in that Argentina friendly, he’ll give the young talent a chance.
@ Dannyj
In effect Brate.
Euro ’16 could put us on a whole new level.
Plus with all these young phenoms on the rise they will fierce competition for spots on the squad and in the first team.
We need to develop a system that brings out the best of our collective talent. We only need to play our game and never again have to fear the opposition.
That’s POWER.
when i first saw the group i liked it… like soul champ says, its not easy but i do believe with a good start we can run away with it
for sure we will drop a couple of points but i think the games between all the other teams will be intense and ties will be had… i think we should at least beat all the teams once if not a second time
just have to be consistent… our talent is the top of the group i dont think any one can contest that
soul champ your positivity is much appreciated!
@ Ante
I did erase overtime 2008 through 2010.
The group is ideal in its competive enough to bring respect and focus but no one we need to fear.
Iceland is the real deal and will get better and better BUT we happen to match up well with their running style as we dominate proceedings in the mid-field. Plus we now know how tough it is to play in Rejkevik. The June date allows us to avoid that sub freezing temps. We will be ready for them as 6 points against Iceland will mean 1st place
The rest of the teams cannot score and that is a stress that they will bring to each match.
I am looking for the first ever dominant WC qualifying campaign in the history of Croatia. Like to see us put in a German like shift this time around and allow young talent to gain experience after we clinch first place.