Since the World Cup in 2018 where Croatia reached the final, they haven’t quite gotten back to that level. Zlatko Dalic’s side, ranked 10th in the world, will look to get past at least the quarter finals in what could be the last major international tournament for Croatian footballing legend Luka Modric.

Enjoying the captain's moves. 🧐#EURO2024 #Family #Vatreni❤️‍🔥 pic.twitter.com/NEXyDFqvHc

— HNS (@HNS_CFF) June 7, 2024

SQUAD

Goalkeepers Dominik Livakovic (Fenerbahce), Ivica Ivusic (Pafos), Nediljko Labrovic (Rijeka)

Defenders Domagoj Vida (AEK Athens), Josip Juranovic (Union Berlin), Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City), Borna Sosa (Ajax), Josip Stanisic (Bayer Leverkusen), Josip Sutalo (Ajax), Martin Erlic (Sassuolo), Marin Pongracic (Lecce)

Midfielders Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Mateo Kovacic (Manchester City), Marcelo Brozovic (Al Nassr), Mario Pasalic (Atalanta), Nikola Vlasic (Torino), Lovro Majer (Wolfsburg), Luka Ivanusec (Feyenoord), Luka Sucic (Salzburg), Martin Baturina (Dinamo Zagreb)

Forwards Ivan Perisic (Hajduk), Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim), Bruno Petkovic (Dinamo Zagreb), Marko Pjaca (Rijeka), Ante Budimir (Osasuna), Marco Pasalic (Rijeka)

Head coach @DalicZlatko has confirmed #Croatia squad for the upcoming #EURO2024! 🇭🇷✅#Family #Vatreni❤️‍🔥 pic.twitter.com/NfrYCIaksk

— HNS (@HNS_CFF) June 7, 2024

The breakout of Josko Gvardiol at Manchester City has come at a good time for the Croatians, and supported by Stanisic and Juranovic playing as full-backs, their defence seems to have levelled up since previous tournaments where they have relied on their midfield to win them games.

This will surely be the last international tournament that Luka Modric will be a part of, so you would expect that Madrid Maestro to go out with a bang. The renowned trio of Modric, Kovacic and Brozovic want to set the tournament alight one final time.

Final practice session before the friendly with @selecaoportugal in Lisbon! 📸#EURO2024 #Family #Vatreni❤️‍🔥 pic.twitter.com/pBHnXW6sxf

— HNS (@HNS_CFF) June 8, 2024

GROUP FIXTURES

Saturday 15th June: Spain vs Croatia (17:00 BST) Wednesday 19th June: Croatia vs Albania (14:00 BST) Monday 24th June: Croatia vs Italy (20:00 BST)

PLAYER TO WATCH

While the nation have a few very well known stars in the form of Modric, Kovacic and Gvardiol, I think that it will come down to Dominik Livakovic to decide whether they make it deep into the tournament, and after his performance in Qatar two years ago, he definitely has the potential to shine for the Blazers, especially if anything comes down to penalties...

PREDICTION

Despite being in a difficult group, Croatia always seem to get further into competitions than expected, so I am going to predict that they get out of the group in second place and get knocked out in the round of 16. With the squad ever-ageing, I don’t think they will be able to compete with the likes of England or France later down the line.