Wales v Croatia
Since becoming independent in 1991 Croatia have qualified for seven FIFA World Cup finals. They finished third in their first ever FIFA World Cup in 1998 and were runners-up in 2018.
Croatia have also qualified for six UEFA European Championships.
The Hrvatski Nogometni Savez (HNS) was formed in 1912 as part of Hrvatski športski savez when Croatia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Croatian footballers played for the national teams of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1919-1939
Following the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers in 1941, the HNS became active, joining FIFA on 17 July 1941 playing 14 friendly matches, the first of which was a 1–1 draw with Slovakia in Bratislava in September 1941.
At the end of the Second World War the People's Republic of Croatia was formed as constituent part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Following the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1991 Croatia was re-admitted to FIFA in July 1992 and played its first official match in the modern era, losing 3-1 against Australia in Adelaide.
Head to Head
| P | W | D | L | F | A | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Away | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| ALL | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 12 |
Match details
| no. | date | score | scorers (wales) | venue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 506 | 21/08/2002 | Croatia 1-1 Wales | Davies | Stadion NK Varteks, Varazdin | Fr |
| 578 | 23/05/2010 | Croatia 2-0 Wales | Stadion Gradski Vrt, Osijek | Fr | |
| 599 | 16/10/2012 | Croatia 2-0 Wales | Stadion Gradski Vrt, Osijek | WCQ | |
| 602 | 26/03/2013 | Wales 1-2 Croatia | Bale (pen) | Liberty Stadium, Swansea | WCQ |
| 654 | 08/06/2019 | Croatia 2-1 Wales | Brooks | Stadion Gradski Vrt, Osijek | ECQ |
| 659 | 13/10/2019 | Wales 1-1 Croatia | Bale | Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff | ECQ |
| 698 | 25/03/2023 | Croatia 1-1 Wales | Broadhead | Stadion Poljud, Split | ECQ |
| 705 | 15/10/2023 | Wales 2-1 Croatia | Wilson (2) | Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff | ECQ |
FIFA World Cup third-place (2): 1998, 2022
Welsh players to have made their debut against Croatia
Seven players have made their debut for Wales against Croatia; with five coming in the same match.
- Andy Dorman - 23 May 2010
- Mark Bradley - 23 May 2010
- Neil Taylor - 23 May 2010
- Christian Ribeiro - 23 May 2010
- Hal Robson-Kanu - 23 May 2010
- Nathan Broadhead - 25 March 2023
- Jordan James - 25 March 2023
