HNS have officially announced that Slaven Bilić has returned to the Croatia hot seat after 14 years, the first manager to ever have a second term with the Croatian senior national team. Initial media reports said Bilić would have an contract until EURO 2028, however, he has actually signed a deal until the 2030 World Cup.
Bilić’s Background
Slaven Bilić is known worldwide as a player and as a manager. During his playing days, he was one of the key parts of the Croatian national team that proved its place at the top of world football in 1998. After retiring in 2000 at Hajduk Split, he took charge of the club as manager the following year in a shock managerial appointment at the time. Many fans and journalists believed he wasn’t ready to start managing that fast after retiring as a player. But Bilić did an okay job. He didn’t win anything with his boyhood club but kept them competitive and close to the 1st spot.
After leaving Hajduk, he entered the Croatia national team setup, taking over as head coach of the U21s. He joined the side during the 2006 UEFA European U21 Championship qualifiers and led the team to first place, securing a play-off vs. Serbia and Montenegro U21. It was a highly emotional tie that Croatia lost 3-1, failing to qualify for the tournament. But the team still played some good football, and it was a decent spell overall, with Bilić overseeing the young talents of Luka Modrić, Vedran Ćorluka, Eduardo, Ognjen Vukojević and Niko Kranjčar.
Then, in July of 2006, after an embarrassing World Cup performance in which Croatia didn’t win a group stage game and finished 3rd behind Australia and Brazil, Slaven Bilić was appointed as manager of the senior national team. It was a very tough job to take at the time, as Croatian football and the national team weren’t in a promising place. Bilić immediately made his squad younger, leaving a lot of the older players behind and introducing the generation of U21s he had coached.
The 2008 EURO qualifiers were expected to be the toughest qualifying cycle the national team had ever faced, but Bilić and his new young core made that group, England, Russia, Israel, Macedonia, Estonia and Andorra, look easy, topping it with just one loss. Then, heading into the EURO, Croatia lost Eduardo da Silva to a horrific injury. Croatia still topped their group with fantastic performances and qualified for the quarter-finals, where we faced Turkey…
Then came 2010 World Cup qualifying, in which Croatia again faced England, alongside Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra. Croatia finished 3rd in the group, missing out on 2nd place to Ukraine by just one point and missing out on the World Cup for the first time in the country’s history. A few injury problems played into the poor result, and the Turkey defeat had clearly had a mental effect on the young core. But Bilić kept his job and led Croatia to a 2nd-place finish in the EURO 2012 qualifying group behind 1st-placed Greece. Then, in the play-offs, Croatia got revenge on Turkey, winning 3-0 on aggregate to qualify for the EURO.
The group draw was less than ideal, pitting Croatia against the future two tournament finalists, Spain and Italy. Bilić and his men missed out on the knockout stages by just one point, finishing on 4 points after beating Ireland, drawing with Italy and narrowly losing to Spain. Slaven announced before the tournament that this would be his final one as manager of the national team. In this first stint, he managed 65 games, winning 42, drawing 15 and losing just 8 — making him the best Croatia manager in terms of points per game, with 2.15.
After leaving Croatia, he managed: Lokomotiv Moscow, Besiktas, West Ham, Al-Ittihad, West Brom, Beijing Guoan, Watford and Al-Fateh. Bilić also refused job offers as he was waiting for the Croatia call since the tail end of 2025 when it became increasingly likely that Dalić wouldn’t extend his contract with the national team.
Why Bilić now?
HNS reportedly held talks with Slaven Bilić before the 2026 World Cup, as it became clear that Zlatko Dalić would be leaving after the tournament. The federation also communicated the idea of hiring Bilić to the players, who responded positively to the potential hire. And it makes sense: this is a manager with a proven track record of doing exactly what Croatia needs right now.
Back in 2006, Bilić inherited a national team in transition and used his U21 experience to fast-track Modrić, Ćorluka, Kranjčar and company into the senior setup, rebuilding the whole squad around them within two years. Croatia is at a similar crossroads today. The Modrić generation is finally winding down, and the federation needs someone who will play the young talents. Bilić has already done exactly that once, with players who are now the most decorated generation in Croatian football history; there’s no better evidence he can do it again.
The national team right now has a lot of good young talent that needs to get acquainted with each other, and Bilić’s history of blending youth development with senior management makes him one of the better options for doing that. He is also the only manager, alongside Dalić now, to have left the national team on a positive note, which is why he’s the first manager to return to the Croatia hot seat in our history.
What’s next?
Slaven Bilić’s first cycle back will be in September, in the new, longer international break, in which Croatia will open its Nations League campaign and play four games, including a home-and-away set against Spain, through the end of September and start of October. Away vs. Czechia; away vs. Spain; home vs. England, played behind closed doors at an empty Rujevica due to UEFA sanctions; home vs. Spain, at Poljud with fans. It will be a very tough task for the new/old coach and the new young core. The Nations League is also very important, as it decides the pots for the EURO qualifying groups. If Croatia doesn’t finish last, we’ll be in Pot 1 for the qualifiers.
It has also been reported by Croatian outlets that Slaven Bilić wants to keep Luka Modrić around, and that the pair will soon meet to talk about Luka’s position in the national team under the coach who made him a key player for Croatia. Luka is also set to meet with AC Milan’s new manager, Ruben Amorim, and everything is pointing towards the 40-year-old playing another season in a top-five league.
Best of luck to Slaven Bilić, and may his second term be more successful than his previous one!
He mentioned yesterday that he will occasionally use a back three but will mainly use a back four as this is Croatia’s DNA.
So 4-2-3-1 like now, 4-3-3 like when he coached Croatia the first time, 4-4-2, or another formation? Who would you pick for September/October games if the target is to rebuild the NT?
In terms of “youngish” players that need to play…
Gvardiol, Stanisic, Vuskovic, P. Sucic, Baturina and probably Matanovic should all start at the Nations League in preparation for Euro2028.
Other young players that should be given minutes (and least be given a shot with some minutes off the bench) are Stojkovic, Smolcic, Jagusic, L. Sucic, Marco P, Segecic and Ivanovic.
If there is anyone else that breaks out early (Mlacic, Pavic, Covic, Puljic, etc.) then we can call them up, but even if we just stick to these guys above, it’s more than enough youth for Euro2028.
NL is 4 games in 11 days – game – 3 days game – 4 days game – 3 days game
So Bilic will have no choice but to basically field 2 different XIs and use most of the squad
He’ll have to split the Senators b/w the 2 squads and pepper the rest with youth
And hopefully new call up’s off the bench
Hopefully he’s working on it all now.
He seems like a prepper.
Any updates on Frigan or Crnac ?
Can’t find anything especially since March for Frigan
Based on Anonymous recommendation
HNS has extended Bilic to a 4 year contract
It’s painful being the GOAT but someone has to do it !!!
🚨🇭🇷 𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄: Slaven Bilić has actually signed a FOUR-year contract as Croatia head coach until the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
It is the first time in Croatia’s history that a national team manager has been handed an initial four-year deal.
[Sportske Novosti]
I finished rewatching (reluctantly) Croatia vs. Portugal
The first half wasn’t that bad except for three main issues
The biggest issue is Croatia had the f-ing sun in their eyes the whole half (I still don’t know what happened to the coin toss to decide who gets the ball first and what side the team picks – did FIFA eliminate it ???) – but for corners Liva was holding his hand over his eyes because he couldn’t see anything – that’s both games Panama and Portugal we played first half in the wrong direction
The next biggest issues was – box defending – Portugal had at least 3 corners – and Croatia still had no control in defending in the box – Sutalo barely got a head graze on one corner – but the rest – Croatia was not first and Portugal just didn’t get good enough contact to score
3rd biggest issue was defending wingers and crosses – Stani got done 2-3 times early by Laeo – and thereafter Vlasic came to help him to make it 2 v 1 and basically shut him down the rest of the half – on the left side – there were a few long diagonal balls from Portugal left CB to RW Pedro Neto which completely exposed Perisic 1 v 1 – and resulted in Neto getting at least 3 perfect crosses on a plate into the box which Ronaldo missed two of them – Bati and/or Kova were not responsible defensively enough to help Ivan (it falls more on Bati than Kova) – after the first time Neto gets one of those crosses in – Bati needs to be there the next time – Neto prefers crossing with this left foot – so he kept cutting inside (and Ivan was too far off of him giving him space) and getting the cross off – Dalic should have yelled at Bati after the first one to get his ass back to help Ivan in those situations – the CBs were also not defending the man nor the cross well at all
Honestly – with better finishing it could have been Portugal 5-0 at HT
The good news – is Croatia has a box defender (someone called Vuskovic) who can actually defend corners and crosses into the box (he’s elite elite at it) – and how Vlasic was tracking Leao on our right side – Bati (or whoever) needs to track Neto on our left side (and Croatia needs a proper LB – you can’t have 38 y/o Ivan defending wingers like Neto)
Budimir – offers nothing – no pressing – just a couple of flops for free kicks – no running – didn’t close down one defender the whole half – just a pillon – like playing with 10 men – won’t be surprised Bilic doesn’t call him up
Pero – was maybe the best player in the first half – nod to Vlasic for being so f-ing responsible defensively on that right side
Pong – a couple nice runs and progressive passes – something Portugal weren’t expecting
Sutalo tries to hide on the field – not helping Stani enough – not dealing with the box corners/crosses coming in – trying to stay away so he can point to someone else making a mistake
Bati – the bar/expectation for him is HIGH NOW – he was NOT responsible enough whatsoever in the first half – this is why I didn’t retire the Fatty nick name yet – his floor dropped again – he has to know he needs to help poor 38 y/o Ivan at LB – also going forward he received the ball a couple of times and dribbled or passed it forward – but he needs to keep running – I get the sense he waits for contact too often or runs right into it – to get a free kick – maybe it’s not a bad strategy to relieve the pressure in this game which was needed – but overall comment
Kova – glimpses and a couple of little slalom – but he saved himself for 2nd half – Modric was okay
I think overall Dalic told them (which he said after the game) to conserve energy in first half and sit back and not concede – and then go full out in 2nd half (the opposite of what he told them to do vs. England) – the issue with this is if Portugal had luck on their side they could have been up 5-0 after 45
Bilic has said Vuskovic is playing – so that will fix box defending – we also need capable LB not Ivan and left-sided midfielder to be more defensively responsible in those situations – and it’s cleaned up
Pong was given all the space in the World to do what he wanted.
If anything, I see it as Portugal recognizing that he’s the weakest link on our team.
Pong was also responsible for at least one of those corners (the one that the Portuguese botched and was wide open but sailed right over). Pong heads the ball out of bounds for a corner even when he’s not under pressure and has the option to kick it out for a throw in instead.
Like I said previously, Pong has skill on the ball…he can dribble and pass well..unlike sutalo who looks extremely uncomfortable with it….down site with pong…is the defending part especially set pieces…
Seems like that is a skill that can be at least improved more than a skill that cannot, but it is also a little genetic unfortunately. All secondary defensive men in American football are 100% of African descendent. Quick twitch muscles are the biologic ideal for that particular skill set, as well as height can be an advantage
You have to mark a man for first second that the ball is in flight to maintain positional advantage, and then at mid-flight, you have to re-focus on completely playing the ball, otherwise you have a Vlasic penalty situation that can be reviewed by VAR.
This. It’s like in basketball when a non-shooting type center has the ball at the three point line. The opposing team would let him shoot that anytime.
You see a lot of teams that have done their due diligence and scouting let subpar CBs have the ball and dare them to do anything with it. The defense can mark more important players that are capable of hurting you.
Anon, thanks for taking the time to provide a thorough and detailed report.
Agree that Vuskovic is great as a box defender. Watched most of his games this past year in the Bundesliga. If I had any criticism of Dalic, and I had little, it would be that Vuskovic should have played more, and definitely against Portugal.
It will be interesting to see who Bilic will bring in as new defenders, players who weren’t there with the NT at WC 2026.
Smolcic (25) played well at right back in Serie A this past year and will be playing for Como in Champions League next year. I would have thought he was going to make the national team for 2026 and he didn’t.
In the HNL, Valincic (23) has good speed and acceleration at Dinamo at right back, Hrgovic (22) also good speed and acceleration at Hajduk and seems to have potential at left back. Don’t know what people’s thoughts are with those two?
Looking a little further out, perhaps to 2030, Prpic (22) at Porto, Mlacic (19) at Udinesse, and Pavic (16) at Bayern are just three more who are said to have excellent potential, and all are with teams playing in top 8 leagues.
There is also Barisic (Rijeka), Barzic (2 La Liga) and Mandic (2 Bundesliga) who are all said to have good potential.
What the hell is going on in Croatia
Judge gets 4.5 years in fail for 15k bribe
Anonymous always wonders how they people go to sleep at night – with the sword of Damocles always over your head – it MUST be a very unpleasant way to live knowing that u could get CAUGHT ANY DAY and end up in jail
No short-cuts in life – work harder – work smarter – do better – stay away from crap
FORMER Šibenik judge Maja Šupe was found guilty of accepting a bribe by the Split County Court and sentenced to four and a half years in prison. Businessman Blaž Petrović was also convicted of bribery. Judge Šupe, who did not appear at the sentencing, must also return 15,000 euros in illegal proceeds.
Bribe for acquittal
According to the verdict, Maja Šupe received 15 thousand euros from entrepreneur Blaž Petrović in return for his acquittal in a court case conducted in 2013. The bribe was mediated by attorney Branimir Zmijanović, who was also found guilty in the same proceedings.
Great to see it was prosecuted, and they are keeping it clean. That is the good news.
As you know, it happens from time to time, in legal systems around the world, and even at the highest levels. It is more probable than not that the man who many still consider to be the greatest trial lawyer in America in the first half of the 20th century (if not the greatest of the entire 20th century) was involved in bribery and jury tampering.
I suppose Croatia is no different than any other place.
But you’re absolutely right. Let’s be better.
Croatia no different? Are you kidding?it is very corrupt from the medical system to the legal system and it’s a point of shame.
First Josip Simic arrested last year – now Dario Simic arrested and paraded in handcuffs about some permits or something – what’s going on with the Simic family ? Clearly they have PISSED the wrong people off in Croatia
Ugh moderation. I know posts will never been seen when they go there so i will post this again and you can fill in the blanks:
For those who say we arent getting the run of refs calls against us:
news.northeastern.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/var_direction_per100_2026.png?resize=872,1100
source:
news.northeastern.edu/2026/07/11/world-cup-2026-favoritism/
I can’t say I that I expected us to be more unfairly treated than Iran.
For those who say we arent getting the run of ref calls against us:
https://news.northeastern.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/var_direction_per100_2026.png?resize=872,1100
source:
https://news.northeastern.edu/2026/07/11/world-cup-2026-favoritism/
Based on the fact that now Marco Pasalic will be in the Premiere league, rather than the MLS, based on latest ratings, if he is successful, he should be 10 times better, and would be finally ready and acceptable for a role on the NT, I’ve been told.
Jakirović, Segegic, Pasalic, Fruk??,…….. Cro City, ……..too bad they lost Pandur.
TBH I was not impressed with Marco’s play in the world cup.
Any reason why 90% of my posts are blocked or prevented from being posted?
We are the only country that would give a coach that was fired another chance to manage the national team. I have mixed feelings on this. I am hoping we don’t go backwards and can build something special with this new group .
He wasn’t fired
Stop being lazy
A simple google search who would there are TONS of examples of managers managing the same NT more than once
As e.g. Parreira managed Brazil three times and during his second spell won the WC in 1994
Stop typing – start learning – start reading – do more – do better
Truth’s pimply analyst f up the math again
“salary is set to be more than twice lower than Zlatko Dalić’s final contract” 🤦♂️
U can’t have more than X lower
Let’s say u have 100 – “more than twice lower” would be -200 so -100 🤦♂️
U can’t have a negative salary MORONS
No English – no job
No Math – no job
Truth find another one thx
🚨 𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄: Slaven Bilić is expected to earn around €1 million gross per year as Croatia’s new head coach.
His reported salary is set to be more than twice lower than Zlatko Dalić’s final contract, but with performance-related bonuses included.
[Sportske Novosti
Anonymous tells Jaga to wear a helmet and don’t text and bike
Bilic says don’t bungee jump
Anonymous praised Bilic World Class psychology skills –
Bilic recognizes psychology as one of his key strengthens
Anonymous and Bilic doppelgängers !!!!
🎙️ Slaven Bilić on how he has changed as a coach:
“I’ve changed. I don’t think people change their core values, but they do grow. Life teaches you lessons. When you’re younger, you’re braver – there aren’t many people bungee jumping at 50.
I’m definitely a better coach, psychologist and friend now. I’ve experienced much more in life and learned through both success and failure.” [Americana]
I agree Slaven
That’s exactly what Anonymous has said – you normalized Croatia winning against the biggest teams
🎙️ Slaven Bilić on his favourite victory as Croatia head coach:
“If I have to choose one victory, it’s the one against England in Zagreb. That was the moment we announced ourselves. It launched us.” [Americana]
Wellness check on Davor plz !!!!!!
🎙️ Slaven Bilić on Luka Vušković’s status in the national team:
“He is the present. We don’t look at age, whether it’s older or younger players.
Vušković has a transfer to Tottenham behind him, he played in Belgium, in a smaller Premier League.” [Americana]
Anonymous tells Marco sabatical over
Marco listens to Anonymous drops everything and jumps on a plane 6 hours later to sign with Hull
NT players all begging Anonymous for his advice
It’s a big responsibility but someone has to do it !
Hey Marco – get Jaki to work w u on ur decision making and qualify in the final 3rd – needs a lot of work it sucked at the WC – u get that right – u gonna cook
🚨🇭🇷 BREAKING: Marco Pašalić is set to join Hull City.
Hull are expected to pay at least €7M for the winger, although the final amount could rise.
The transfer is expected to be officially announced soon.
[Index]
Is he back because he is all at sea with his managerial career
Dalic making the big money that he wanted, and Bilic found someone that would hire him at a reasonable salary, everyone is happy. It all worked out for the best for all parties.
Listened to Bilic press conference on youtube. This is about unfinished business. Best answer he gave was regarding the Turkey game and what did he learn from it. He went on to fluff it off as something in the past. I call BS on that answer. This is all about changing that scenerio . He tried to fake it, but Bilic isn’t great at hiding his cards and he’s motivated for a big run. He said best players will play. That’s fine , makes sense but this is HNS. There is alot of other ulterior motives and it will be interesting to see how much of his own direction will be OK with the other forces . It’s HNS, it’s always about the money. It’s going to be intriguing the see Bilic and how much independence he gets on his decisions. I say very little.
i read your remarks and have to ask the question, did you think Dalic did not have independence in his selections.
He had complete independence to choose. Bilic had Mamic to deal with. Check out an interview he did it’s on YouTube tilted I would never have been coach if Mamic had said no . Dalic wasted two Euros and two World cups because of his bad decisions. You want to say he was a good coach okay your opinion won’t argue agree to disagree . Dalic had more luck than he did skill at being a coach
Let’s go the new menu! Let’s keep it real. No celebrity charm please. Values and insight, hard work and positivity 🇭🇷
I love Bilic but I have mixed feeling about this.
when he coached our National Team the last time, I thought he did an amazing job but in some cases he was unlucky.
I won’t judge him for his record at the club level, its quite a bit different from coaching a National Team and I believe he will put everything he has into making our team successful! My only issue with Bilic is that he tends to overthink and double guess himself at times. on the other hand if you watch any of his interviews, the guy is incredibly thorough, super intelligent and has a very high aptitude not only for the sport, but also for other parts of a team game that some may overlook. he has a lot of charisma and he is a very quick thinker, sharper than most which might have something to do with him being a musician, a lawyer, speaks several languages…
lets see if he bring a different dynamic to our team…I believe he has a great perspective of the game and how to play it.
Are you describing Anonymous or Bilic ?
Everything u said applies to Anonymous !!! 😊😊😊😊😊❤️
Anonymous, of course!
Mart
U18 just had their 2nd last second win in a row
There is no football today hence no excuse 😉🤗😊🥰🇭🇷
David Celic
3 saves vs 1 goal yesterday in 2-1 win
9 pt lead vs 2nd place team
The good news is bilic should have a higher floor than some strange unknown candidate that could be a disaster like stimac
Bad News is his track record isn’t overly impressive but maybe he’s learned
Guarantees this board will eventually hate him, call for his firing and wish for the days of dalic
As even dalics incredible run wasn’t enough for the Croatian favorite past time: complaining
I watched some jagusic highlights. Didn’t love what i saw. Looked not that fast and like another cam and the board knows how i feel about cam prospects.
As a fellow Super Slav, I don’t mind giving Bilic a 2nd chance.
I don’t think his credentials are so amazing but was he ever given a real opportunity?
Coaching positions with West Ham and all the other bottom feeders is not a good reflection of one’s ability as opposed to David Moyse being handed the keys to the corvette from Sir Alex.
Anyway, he has much more experience now and maybe he will exceed all expectations?
I also prefer our coaches to be home grown so our overall pool of choices are already slim.
Lastly, the Repka can save money on paying for a victory band.
Faster than Anonymous picking his nose.
Stronger then slowest train in Osijek,
Able to eat 2 tons of cevapi in a single bound,
Look it’s Klepetan,
It’s Rimic Automobili,
No, it’s SUPER SLAV.
Wishing Mr Bilic best of luck. Anyone had thought on why Niko Kovac wasn’t given then job?
Niko Kovač was terrible for us.
It was time. Dalic was done . Yeah, pray and patronage , I get it. It’s pretty standard playbook for HNS . So now , Bilic. It will be interesting to see if he can coach kids. He understands the gig and wish him luck. Really surprised in Croatian media how down they are on Bilic and this decision. Must mean it was the right decision when their ganging up on him like this. Oh well, it’s Croatia and that’s how the media works.
If we didn’t choose Bilić, then who would the right choice be right now? I just don’t see a different option at this point. I think it’s the right call on Kustić’s part to call on Bilić.
I personally like his coaching style. I don’t like his political views but I think he will be good for the team overall.
Had BILIC not been around the Job would go to Olic and we really been in trouble
Jaki wants Marco
Marco – sabbatical is over – hope u had fun – now time to get back to work and test urself in the PL
Sergej Jakirović told Germanijak that Toni Fruk and Rokas Pukštas remain under consideration and are both on the club’s shortlist.
He also revealed that Hoxha is no longer being considered, with Marco Pašalić replacing him on the shortlist.
Jakirović added that he has confidence in all three players, but stressed that the final decision rests with the club’s hierarchy, who will determine what is best for the club.
I’m really curious to see if he will manage to make a great team full of youngsters, too bad that his first two games will be without fans though
Hrvatska iznad svih!!!