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Croatia participated in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. This was their third appearance. Up to 2006, the country had qualified for every FIFA World Cup which it has been eligible for since independence in 1991.
Contents
Qualifying
Croatia was in Group 8 of UEFA's World Cup qualifications. They played alongside Bulgaria, Hungary, Iceland, Malta and Sweden. During the course of qualifications, the team remained undefeated. At the end of qualification, the team was tied with Sweden in points. However, Croatia won the tiebreaker based on their head-to-head record (Croatia won both meetings).
The complete results were as follows:
The final standings were the following:
World Cup preparation
The Croatian national team's World Cup camp was in the spa town of Bad Brückenau in northern Bavaria, Germany. The county of Bad Kissingen in northern Bavaria was the only one to host two teams preparations. Ecuador were based in the city of Bad Kissingen,
The team also participated in several exhibition games around Europe in preparation for the World Cup:
Draw
Croatia was drawn into Group F. Croatia's opponents in the first stage were Brazil, Australia and Japan, respectively.
History
From the group, the Croatian team has only faced Japan before in a World Cup, but other matches, both official and friendly ones, have taken place with the other two. The history of those matches up until, but not including, the 2006 World Cup is as follows:
2006 World Cup squad
Head coach: Zlatko Kranjčar
Team captain: Niko Kovač
Matches
All times local (UTC+2)
Round Robin
Group F
First Round
Brazil vs Croatia
13 June 2006 - 21:00
Olympic Stadium, Berlin - Attendance: 72,000
Japan vs. Croatia
18 June 2006
15:00 - FIFA World Cup Stadium Nuremberg, Nuremberg - Attendance: 41,000
Croatia vs Australia
22 June 2006
21:00 - Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart - Attendance: 52,000
Miscellaneous
Prior to the Croatia's match against Brazil, 823 flares were confiscated from fans. However, Croatian fans managed to sneak in at least two and lit them during the game. This game was also marked by a Croatian fan stepping onto the field and kissing the boots of Croatian forward Dado Pršo.