Croatia
Croatia are a UEFA national team of 3.9 million people who have reached two World Cup finals, winning third place in 1998 and finishing runners-up in 2018, a record of overperformance unmatched in European football by population.
The 1998 World Cup in France was the debut. Croatia had been an independent nation for seven years. Davor Suker won the Golden Boot with six goals, including a composed finish against the Netherlands in the semi-final that remains one of the cleanest strikes in tournament history. They lost that semi-final 2-1 to host nation France but beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the third-place match. For a country that had not existed as a football nation a decade earlier, reaching the final four of the World Cup in their debut tournament was an achievement without precedent.
The 2018 run in Russia was different in character. Luka Modric, who had spent years being underestimated at Real Madrid before winning the Ballon d’Or in 2018, was the engine and the soul. Against England in the semi-final on July 11 in Moscow, Croatia came back from 1-0 down, with Ivan Perisic equalising and Mario Mandzukic scoring the winner in extra time. Mandzukic had already scored an own goal that evening, both bookend goals of the match his. In the final, France won 4-2. Modric wept at the final whistle and was voted Player of the Tournament.
The tactical identity over two generations has been the same: a compact 4-2-3-1 built around midfield quality and defensive discipline, with tournament experience that breeds composure in knockout football. Croatia rarely panic. They believe in the process.
The 2022 World Cup saw them reach another semi-final, losing to Argentina after a 0-0 draw in which Modric played 90 minutes without losing the ball unnecessarily. At 38, he remains involved in international football. The squad around him, including Mateo Kovacic and Lovro Majer, has absorbed the institutional knowledge of how Croatia plays.
Zagreb is in the CET timezone (UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer). For fans in Croatia, World Cup matches in the US are watched in the early hours. The country treats the tournament as a national event regardless of the schedule, a habit built over 25 years of consistently having something worth watching.