Croatia have been grouped with 🏴Wales, 🇦🇲Armenia, 🇹🇷Turkey and 🇱🇻Latvia in EURO 2024 qualifying!
Top-2 teams in group automatically join hosts, Germany, for the final 24-man tournament in the summer of 2024. On initial glance, Croatia should have no problem with this group, let alone not finish top-two. The Vatreni avoided much tougher sides from Pot 2, which included France, England, and Serbia. A minimum of four points should be expected from the two matches with Wales. Armenia was the weakest team offered from Pot 3, but Croatia will face historical pests, Turkey, from Pot 4. Turkey have been on the decline in recent years but still the toughest country out of Pot 4 (in my opinion). Playing in a raucous atmosphere in Istanbul is no joke. Croatia should grab all six points from Latvia; even with regular starters receiving rest in those matches.
I personally would have asked this group to be spiced up a bit more. Replace Wales with England or replace Armenia with Norway. But at the end of the day, this is one of the easiest groups Croatia has ever been given in their 28-year qualifying history. It should be a fun campaign where we see a lot more combinations from the younger generation with veterans such as Modrić and Perišić being rested.
People are saying this is an easy group on paper,but we have a tendency to play down to the level of our opponent a lot of matches.
There will be guaranteed clunkers away to probably Armenia or wales?
This is the easiest group we’ve had in ages, very happy
Is it just me noticing this, but how the fuck did UEFA permit Turkey did be in the same group as Armenia? They’ve enacted rules where teams like Russia/Ukraine, Kosovo/Serbia, Albania/Serbia, and so on can’t be paired in a group. I anticipate lots of fights and hooligans to disrupt those two two matches. Overall, it’s an easier group but I wouldn’t classify this as a breeze. Turkey is decent, Wales aren’t a walk in the park and Armenia have caused upsets.
It seems when Zidane came into Lukas life is when he started playing his offensive style
Ironically zidane is 5th on the list
I don’t watch a lot of Luka Modric for his club, but for Croatia I would argue that the final third of his career has been his best, because at no stage has he done so much in the final third as he has in the final third of his career.
True. I remember when everyone was criticizing him for not taking shots on goal and never scoring.
He went a couple of years without scoring, then he scored a bomb of a goal against Israel in a qualifier and everyone was happy.
The funny thing is, he didn’t score again for another three years after that, ha ha.
His offensive coming out party was when he scored that awesome one-time goal against Turkey at Euro2016.
Since then, he’s been pushing forward on offense and has been scoring goals.
Yes that’s true No Mercy, but you should watch more of Modric in Real Madrid the guy is insane. It isn’t normal how the guy plays at this age. What he did to pull Real Madrid back in the game against PSG, and then again against Chelsea, then in the second leg against Man City to be outrunning and pacing De Bruyne…who many pundits have said is better than Modric, and who would only go as far as to say that de Bruyne gassed out for Man City and should have been substituted…instead of saying that it was because he was playing against the likes of Modric… Modric even got the better of Neymar, Messi, and five other players on PSG.
The guy is a level unto himself, when he is awarded the Leyenda Award from Marca in Spain, you know the guy has achieved something spectacular.
The guy is incredible on all levels man. Best Croatian soccer player, possibly ever man.
All times (ET)
Saturday March 25, 2023
Armenia – Turkey 12:00
Croatia – Wales 2:45
Tuesday March 28, 2023
Turkey – Croatia 2:45
Wales – Latvia 2:45
Friday June 16, 2023
Latvia – Turkey 2:45
Wales – Armenia 2:45
Monday June 19, 2023
Armenia – Latvia 12:00
Turkey – Wales 2:45
Friday September 8, 2023
Croatia – Latvia 2:45
Turkey – Armenia 2:45
Monday September 11, 2023
Armenia – Croatia 12:00
Latvia – Wales 2:45
Thursday October 12, 2023
Croatia – Turkey 2:45
Latvia – Armenia 2:45
Sunday October 15, 2023
Turkey – Latvia 2:45
Wales – Croatia 2:45
Saturday November 18, 2023
Armenia – Wales 9:00
Latvia – Croatia 12:00
Tuesday November 21, 2023
Croatia – Armenia 2:45
Wales – Turkey 2:45
Awesome, thanks Mile.
https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/ranked-the-100-best-football-players-of-all-time/10
Luka at 79, what you guys think
Disrespectfully low
Nope.
Some of the guys this dummy ranked higher couldn’t hold Luka’s jock strap. The author, being English, part of the disrespect comes from the pain that Luka was of the team that deprived his team of a World Cup final (and knocked them out of qualifying for Euro 2008). It’s the same disrespect shown to Croatia before the 2018 WC semi and similar to when Michael Owen said no Croatian player could start for England (and that was after Croatia beat England twice in Euro 2008 qualifying!!).
I always liked Michael Owen as a player but that comment is pure disrespect. I see him in a different light now.
The British have also been stuck up this way, if it’s not their team winning the other team is lucky, if it’s not their league the other team is garbage or not good enough. It is detestable the way some people are over there, don’t get me wrong there are a lot of amazing people from there too. This kinda comment just makes me want to route for whoever the other team is when playing against a British league team or even in the world cup or Euro Cup. Every time I want the Brits to lose no exception just so they have a measure of humility.
I know that this kind of attitude exists everywhere but that comment is just atrocious.
I wonder if that half-Serb Aleksandar Holiga had any input into this article.
He usually writes for FourFourTwo, so I wonder if this author connected with him for his input as well. Holiga wastes no opportunity in dismissing Croatian football. The man is bitter and petty.
Remember, in the last World Cup he predicted that we would get bounced in the first round.
Then again, it could just be a bitter Englishman.
Croatia owns real estate in English, Italian, German, Danish and Spanish heads. We have rivalries with these teams to varying degrees.
The English are good football fans, but many are arrogant. These ones react with bitterness from the pain they felt when we eliminated them from Euro2008 and at World Cup 2018.
It’s bad that Modric is so low on the list, but it’s worse that he’s the only Croat on there.
I know that people are bound to disagree with this opinion and it’s fine. But if we are looking closely right now with the stats in the HNL, Marko Livaja is tied for most goals along side Below, Caktas and Orsic, and he is currently leading the pack in terms of assists this season. He is not having too shabby of season as it turns out, his Champions League games were not exceptional and a bust but he continues to be on the charts for the HNL either way.
I dunno, I really can’t see how Petkovic is better personally, but I am sure people will find arguments for that either way.
I still think Livaja deserves a call up for the World Cup, statistically. Don’t get me wrong I was close to writing the guy off with those first few games of the season, not sure what was going on their but hopefully he has turned things around here.
I would definitely like to see Colak as he now has the most goals of any Croatian player this season and you really cannot ignore that. Personally, I don’t know that I would hang on to Budimir really, I don’t see what he is doing this season, and the few games for Croatia he was not able to produce anything he is dead weight o think.
Beljo not Below stupid autocorrect
Petković’s style of play and skillset is rare.
A 6’4″ big striker who knows how to use his body to physically fend off defenders, elite passer, and elite dribbler who can really do well and link up with our midfielders in tight spaces.
He’s definitely worth calling up for games where we’re dominating possession and the opposition is bunkering down. Something that Morroco and Canada may try.
His drawback is that he doesn’t have the speed or endurance to play in a more open game where more running is needed from him.
Livaja is okay, but not elite at anything. Can’t really see when I would ever put him ahead of someone, other than to come off the bench late in the game as a pair of fresh legs.
If Petkovic could improve his fitness, he’d be phenomenal! Rare to see a big guy like him with soo much talent!
Mate, be honest…have you watched the HNL game’s regularly? I’ve said that I like Livaja but he’s dropped in form from last season and he’s really the only major threat Hajduk have. With that said I’d still keep him because he’s smart, strong and is a good decision maker. It takes a lot for a guy like me to admit that but it’s true. Petkovic is even better than Livaja except Livaja can play as a striker and Petkovic can’t.
I never watch Colak so it’s hard for me to comment on him but if he’s scoring in that kinda crappy league then he should get a call!
Colak has some serious dribbling skills too.
I saw highlight from him from time to time when he played for Rijeka. He’s better than Livaja and could possibly be near Petkovic’s level in that regard.
Colak has good size, but I’m not sure if he uses it. He also seems like he can run (which is something he could provide that Petkovic can’t).
Need to see more of him, but yea, he’s intriguing because he could become a dark horse starter for us if he truly is legit and can score against the big boys.
We’ll see in the next round of Champions League matches if he’s up to par.
Not saying that Petkovic doesn’t have talent, or to not give him the call per se, but if we have been mentioning that our issue is finding someone to put the ball in the net, then that was my logic and thinking. Colak is doing more than anyone right now, even in the Scottish League, he even scored a few in the Champions League, against tougher opponents. Whether he can do that against say Liverpool and the like that will have to be seen. Again, I think it was your point Slavonac before, that a person needs service to do well as a striker, so who knows if Colak was on a better team he might do even better.
I’m just speaking from a stats stand point, don’t get me wrong scoring on a bunch of low tiered teams in either league doesn’t make a ton of difference, but if it’s consistency we are after than maybe it will work. Can Livaja score goals against Dinamo for example?? I dunno he has done it before. He managed a few goals already for Croatia in previous tournaments I think he has about 3 or 4 goals in the last 5 games with Croatia. It’s not a bad stat again. Even for someone off the bench.
Currently that’s better than Kramaric is doing and the guy has been starting for us consistently, and he continues to get the call up every time, and I really don’t see what he is doing for us. Just my point, Petkovic even does more than Kramaric does.
And that’s my point how often do you see either of them start, hardly.
Mate1, You make some very interesting points.
With respect to Livaja vs Kramarić, if you look at this season league stats and you could simply use a multiplier it would be easier; for example: Kramarić’s Bundesliga 3 goals and 2 assits x 3 = 9 goals and 6 assists Equivalence for the HNL???
As you point out, Livaja has had better success with less playing time, and coupled with Petković also outperforming Kramarić with our NT (points per minutes played), it suggests to me that a particular type of player seems to fit better.
Similarly, how Kramarić’s results compare to Čolak’s results this season is not essy to do. However, even if Kramarić’s results are better than Čolak’s, I wonder whether or not Čolak fits much better with the rest of the National team as well?
I think that Livaja, Petković, and Čolak may share more similarities with one another than any of them do with Kramarić. I interpret what you are suggesting is less time for Kramarič, and more time for Livaja, Petković, and Čolak.
If that is the case, even though it seems wrong, I think you may be right. Despite how good Kramarić may be, chemistry is hard to predict and develop- I think it is more of a natural occurance.
Both you Franjo and Mate make good points and just to sun this up, I think it’s safe to say we could use Colak because he’s a striker while the rest of the guys we mentioned play a false 9!
Yes, I think Čolak would be a benefit and he should get the chance to contribute.
Franjo and Slavonac, that is my point. I think Kramaric is a fantastic player but for one reason or another he is not jiving with system or the rest of the players. Something isn’t working. But then you see Livaja or Petkovic score and you start to wonder why?
It has to be something. I don’t know with Petko if he just fits extremely well alongside Orsic and the two them feed of one another. Or it say Livaja hand in hand with someone who feeds the ball like Sosa.
Maybe it’s pairings of players together or something I just don’t know what it is that makes one player more successful than another in putting the ball on the net. Kramaric had had countless goals in Bundesliga so I am not sure why, this is coming from someone who is a huge fan of his.
But you see the results like that game against Austria where Livaja scored a crucial goal, and it’s not like Petkovic hasn’t done that before he has.
So I dunno, I am just trying to wrap my head around it. Maybe Dalic has to pay more attention to the player playing side by side and what strategies they have when playing together. If your gonna play Petko should also be playing Orsic and vice versa. If your playing Livaja should he be on the field with someone like Sosa.
I dunno just a thought. Not specifically those pairings but you get what I mean.
I think it was actually Perisic that assisted Livaja’s goal.
You’re right Mate, I just didn’t understand you earlier in the conversation….misunderstanding.
In my opinion…and I’ve said this several times. Kramaric is somewhat of a selfish player and if he’s on a hot streak and scoring goals, we can’t complain BUT, when he’s not on a hot streak and he’s selfish, he usually puts others around him in bad situations because he tries to score himself.
I’ll never forget the chance we had when we played England. He was coming down the right wing and Perisic was all alone for an easy goal and Kramaric tried to score from an impossible angle. That’s him summed up in one play!
I agree Slavonac, and it’s not the first time he has done that, he has done that many times in the Bundesliga as well which led to a lot of fan based arguments against the guy. Not every player is selfless like Modric and plays for the team before they play for themselves. But you put Petkovic, Orsic, and Livaja on the pitch and atleast you have a smart player that will try to look for that pass before they try to shoot unless they know it’s the best option. That is what I see in these three players. Colak I am not so sure about that, but atleast he is scoring goals so he has that going for him in form.
The only negative to the draw is the fact that we face Wales at home first in March, followed by the away trip to Turkey three days later. The same happens in return legs. Not ideal to be playing your strongest opponents 3 days apart.
Yeah I hate that we play Wales first.
We always start slow in qualifications, and I could see a home draw because of this.
Ok so more nitty gritty then
How would we line up with colak?
Same same and he is a lone striker
He doesn’t seem like he needs to be fed on his plate,but maybe that’s cause he is playing against lesser defence?
We know he would get service from mostly the left side
He seems like he can bang garbage and create as well
I also like the fact that Čolak is 1.88 m tall and weighs 83 kg.
Yes he ain’t weak looking
Question is can he battle somewhat like mandzo
There was talk on this board about Croatians being late bloomers in the past. That coupled with perhaps the best season of his career and knowing this world cup is very likely his last chance, Čolak may have the extra motivation required?
I have seen very good players who were not extremely good at any given level, step it up every time they moved up a level to become very good again; whereas other very good players seemed to eventually plateau at some point sooner.
Therefore, it may not be likely, but it’s not impossible in my mind- let’s see if he even gets called up?
Franjo so he is fat? Is that what you saying?
No, From what I can tell from looking at him on TV, he is in great shape. With the weight he has for his height, I would say he has a fair bit of muscle mass, and I would expect him to be very strong.
We have to be satisfied with the group
Couple more challenging games but enough to keep it interesting without having to overly worry about qualifying
But you know we can play down to our opponents
Good chance to lock it up early if we take care of business and see the young guns and guys who are getting hot
Does colak have a high work rate?
I’ve only seen highlights
No he is fat according to Franjo
At least now we will get regular trolling from “turkey” or whatever his name is.
Also speaking of happy turkey day to all Canadians
How can Davies be gone for World Cup with a concussion? It’s still quite far from now
Media reports a contusion / cranial bruise to Davies, and it has been suspected that he has a concussion?
My understanding is that a concussion refers to a brain injury, which sometimes does not show visible symptoms. Concussions can vary widely in severity and recovery time. Not sure if the concussion has been ruled out yet, but you can have both a cranial bruise and a concussion at the same time.
Bringing up Davies and his unknown prognosis was based on an article that stated Canada’s head coach John Herdman will be concerned about his health for the World Cup.
It was also an indirect way to bring Čolak back into the discussion.
Thank you, Franjo you’ve been a wealth of information. Thx man!
Who needs a doctor. Franjo I here for your medical advice.
Guess what, it’s free! I know couldn’t believe myself but it’s true.. Wheeww
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_huJ9Jadas
The blow to Davies does not look anywhere close to being a concussion. A poke to the head, a bruise to the face. I’m sure he will be ready to play next game.
fellowfromtheselo- thanks for the video and you could be right? I am certainly not an expert, but the quick and far back movement of his head looks pretty bad? From my kid having a couple of concussions I remember hearing it’s the brain bouncing off the skull that causes it, so who knows? Also, the more concussions you have, the worse they get, so he may have not ever of had any, and if one exists now it could be mild?
fellowfromtheselo- one point I remembered that admittedly adds strength to your arguementlast is that when a player gets hit and goes down, its often how the head hits the ground that either adds to/ creates the concussion. The video did not show him hitting his head on the turf in a bad way, so it probably did not happen.
Franjo- it appears to me that his head snapping back is more a function of Davies pulling back on his own volition from seeing/feeling the foot close to his face rather than a blow forcing his head back. Again, just one seljak’s opinion.
Yes, I would be pulling my head back also. I watched it again on my big screen vs my phone, and I agree that it doesn’t look that bad, and that he will likely be back soon.
Again, I am not a doctor, so I really don’t know- I am a seljak as well.
Haha! Well said.
The Scottish league isn’t any better than HNL on the whole. The only reason that it is ranked higher is because their top 2 teams (Celtic and Rangers) regularly perform much better in European competition than our top 2 teams do. With that being said, if Colak keeps this up for the next month, he must be called up.
valid point about the SPL being really top-heavy with Rangers and Celtic,
But I don’t know, I think from top to bottom, SPL is still >> HNL. I can’t say I follow it super closely, but I just looked at their table now. Their current 3rd and 5th places teams (Hibernian and Aberdeen) are clubs I KNOW I’ve seen competing in later rounds of the Europa league, a few times each even. Maybe even the current 6th paced team (Midlothian), although that one I’m less sure about.
How often does that happen for any HNL team outside of Dinamo? (I think Rijeka and Osijek may have made it to the group stage of the Europa recently, once each? Correct me if I’m wrong).
With Dinamo’s current lead, HNL looks more top heavy than the SPL to me, and when my heart is removed from the equation, SPL seems a little better. Even if the two leagues are equal, Čolak has 10 goals in 9 league games vs Livaja’s 6 goals in 11 games (top in HNL).
With the goals from UEFA Champions league (3 in 7 games for a total of 13 goals in 16 games), I believe Čolak has already earned a call up. In the event that Čolak’s streak continues, the difference it should make is when and how many minutes he should get with the National Team?
Alphonso Davies appears to have a concussion, and he may be compromised for the World cup?
Sorry to hear about the possible tough break for him and Canada.
Of all the qualified WC teams, the biggest impact to any team from the loss of one player, Davies for Canada has to be high up there if not #1?
As for Croatia, getting back to the topic of calling up Čolak. A good time to give him some minutes aside from the upcoming friendly could be against Canada. Not saying that we should not take Canada seriously (if we can lose 3-0 to Austria, we can lose to Canada). What I am saying is that during the World cup games I would not experiment very much if at all. However; for a goal scorer as hot as Čolak currently is, there should be some wiggle room, and Canada without Davies being healthy is certainly an exception in my mind.
yeah, the topic of league strength came up in another thread here, was actually discussing it with a friend too. Although it’s def not a top 5 league, the Scottish Premier League is def stronger from top to bottom than the HNL.
If there was a Croatian player on a top 2 team that was tearing up the HNL like Colak is the SPL, there would be no debate with anyone – that player would 100% be called to the World Cup.
That Colak is doing for for the even stronger SPL makes it even more clear that he should be going to Qatar.
Chicro1
I think you are 100% right – there appears to be an unjustified bias with respect to HNL players.
Here are the stas / post copied and pasted from the previous thread:
UEFA 2022 league rankings have the Sottish Premiership at 8th overall and HNL comes in 19th. Not sure what criteria is used and how accurate it is; however, a few things come to mind:
– Dinamo Zagreb (#45 ranked European club team) has beat #1 ranked English Premier league teams a few times, so the gap from the #1 league to the #19 can’t be nearly as big as the numbers suggest.
– Furthermore, Čolak playing in the #8 ranked league, can’t be very far off from the top 5 leagues, and as the result, his stats are relevant.
-Croatia has numerous players that aren’t playing in a top 5 league, so why not Čolak (in particular, given that larger rosters are permitted in Qatar)?
Rangers are the #38 ranked club team in all of europe, and they will play the #4 ranked Liverpool on Oct 12th. I hope Čolak does well and proves that he can produce against better competition.
Well yea, the reason why Colak got his callup the first time was because he was a leading scorer in HNL for Rijeka.
Livaja is also on the team is because he’s a top player in the HNL, same as when Petkovic got his first callup too.
Dalic just likes to take his time, and doesn’t like sudden changes.
Problem is that we don’t really have time to wait on Dalic if we have the World Cup in 6 weeks from now.
But it’s looking like Budimir will be off the team if he’s now been relegated to the bench at Osasuna and Colak continues to score.
Maminjo – agree with you. If Budimir was still playing above average like last year (ie – starting most games, having some impact in several games), then it’s harder to make the argument. However Budimir’s drop in form is what is opening the door for this discussion as much as Colak’s performance.
Also, although he hustles and I appreciate his work rate, I honestly can’t remember an instance where Budimir did anything really impactful for Cro when he was on the pitch for us.
If things continue in this trend (Colak and Budimir going in opposite trajectories), I think the choice for Colak is clear.
Maminjo,
Do you think the bias is because it pleases HNS and Croatian fans to reward players who stay / play in the HNL?
I hope you are right about Čolak making the team. If a player proves he deserves a spot, he should get it.
Yea, probably.
I think the die-hard fans from Split and other cities in Cro, likely do not follow football across all leagues in Europe (other than maybe the top 3-4 leagues).
People in Cro will largely watch EPL, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga…then HNL (because it’s all over the Croatian media).
Nobody other than us football nerds will actually track what all the Croats in the mid-tier leagues (like, for example, Dominik Kotarski in the Greek league).
So it’s EASY for the coach to satisfy fans if he picks a few of the top players from the HNL (like Livaja) over a top player in Scotland or Austria.
Since it’s for backup roles, it’s probably not as impactful than it is for starting players.
Dalic probably sees no big difference between Livaja and Colak…even though Livaja couldn’t cut it outside of Croatia and Colak did extremely well in Sweden and now Scotland.
Well put. It really makes little if any difference for back up roles with most positions (and in particular where we have a lot of depth). However, when it comes to Čolak, the difference where we don’t have huge talent and depth up front could be noticeable. For example, an optimistic one extra goal every 3 games in my mind is big?
With all do respect, you don’t think Croatia has nerds following football?
I live in Cro and they follow players from all leagues. Football here is like hockey in Canada, they talk about it year round…
In some cases it pleases the agents and teams that stand to profit from selling the players. Or is a tiebreaking factor, anyway.
For sure.
But Livaja is almost 30 and I doubt he’s got much value now. We’ve also been doing this less and less lately, where we’d cap a young guy just to give him the exposure needed to be sold.
I think Dalić always wanted to sace a few spots for HNL players on the team…where he’s grab a player from each of the top teams in the HNL.
Livaja is kind of a folk hero to Torcida now, so if you’re planning to add a few HNL players, he’s the one you pick.
The 24-team tournament watered down the qualification so much that almost every group is a cakewalk.
There are no regulars that are at-risk of not qualifying.
Ukraine, Ireland, and one of Austria/Sweden won’t qualify but these aren’t regulars.
I just hope Dalic prepares his players this time so we try and wrap qualifications early. I don’t want to see us open our qualifying cycle again with a couple of lazy results. Last time we opened with a loss to Slovenia and the time before that was a 0-0 home draw to Turkey.
Or wait…it was a Hungary loss that we opened with I think for the last Euro qualifiers.
Anyway, we’ve gone like three cycles in a row where we lost to one of the weaker opponents in our group very early.
For the love of God, please not leave this qualification to the last game like what Dalić has done for Euro and for Qatar. Cannot afford to drop easy points because of the stupidity from the coaching by rotating for the sake of it or for playing players that shouldn’t be near the lineup.
What is it also with the obsession to play England? Is it competition?Because the last time they played us, we got absolutely outclassed in all aspects of the game and they weren’t even that good! Look, it might be different now because of our team’s transition but what makes you think that Dalic will go out to win the game because he rarely does it from the start of the game.
We should realistically take all 6 points from Armenia and Latvia. And take 4 points from Turkey and Wales. If I were Dalic, I would schedule Wales and Turkey on the road right off the bat. The rest will be a cake walk.
This group shouldn’t be a problem. Turkey are pests indeed.