Croatia national football team players: Bilic’s 27 after the 7-0, and Modric at 206 caps

The Croatia national football team players Slaven Bilic called up for his first window back in charge won their opening game and lost the next three, and one of those defeats was the worst in the country’s history. England won 7-0 in Rijeka on 3 October. Bilic used 23 of the 27 players in the camp across four Nations League games in eleven days, Luka Modric played in all of them at 41, and Croatia are now playing for third place in their group. Here is the full squad, with caps and goals as of 6 October, and what is left in November.

Croatia’s squad for the Nations League

Bilic named 26 players on 7 September. Josip Juranovic and Martin Erlic withdrew injured on 21 September, and Marin Pongracic, Kristijan Jakic and Lovro Majer were called in from the standby list, which took the group to 27. Caps and goals below are as of the 2-1 defeat by Spain in Split on 6 October; the last column is appearances in the window.

Pos	Player	Caps	Goals	Club	Apps
GK	Dominik Livakovic	83	0	Barcelona	4
GK	Dominik Kotarski	4	0	Dinamo Zagreb	0
GK	Ivor Pandur	0	0	Rangers	0
DF	Josko Gvardiol	56	4	Manchester City	4
DF	Josip Sutalo	40	0	Lazio	3
DF	Josip Stanisic	38	0	Bayern Munich	3
DF	Marin Pongracic	24	0	Fiorentina	1
DF	Luka Vuskovic	10	1	Brighton & Hove Albion	4
DF	Ivan Smolcic	3	0	Como	1
MF	Luka Modric (c)	206	30	AC Milan	4
MF	Mateo Kovacic	121	5	Manchester City	4
MF	Mario Pasalic	93	12	Atalanta	4
MF	Nikola Vlasic	69	11	Torino	3
MF	Lovro Majer	38	9	AEK Athens	0
MF	Martin Baturina	25	2	Como	2
MF	Petar Sucic	25	2	Inter Milan	4
MF	Luka Sucic	23	1	Real Sociedad	1
MF	Kristijan Jakic	19	2	PAOK	2
MF	Josip Misic	4	0	Dinamo Zagreb	2
FW	Ivan Perisic	162	40	PSV Eindhoven	4
FW	Andrej Kramaric	119	36	Hoffenheim	0
FW	Ante Budimir	43	7	Osasuna	2
FW	Marco Pasalic	20	2	Orlando City	2
FW	Igor Matanovic	15	2	Freiburg	3
FW	Petar Musa	14	2	FC Dallas	1
FW	Franjo Ivanovic	12	2	Lens	3
FW	Dion Drena Beljo	4	1	Dinamo Zagreb	2

Four players in that list have more than a hundred caps: Modric, Ivan Perisic, Mateo Kovacic and Andrej Kramaric. Between them they hold 608 of the squad’s 1,270 caps, just under half, and 111 of its 171 goals, close to two-thirds. They are 41, 37, 32 and 35. The squad’s age gap has been talked about for years. This window was the first time it looked like a weakness rather than a talking point.

How did Croatia do in the Nations League window?

Date	Match	Result	Croatia scorers
26 September	Czechia v Croatia, Prague	Won 2-1	Modric, Marco Pasalic
29 September	Spain v Croatia, Seville	Lost 1-4	Beljo
3 October	Croatia v England, Rijeka	Lost 0-7	None
6 October	Croatia v Spain, Split	Lost 1-2	Perisic

It started well. In Prague on 26 September Modric scored the opener two minutes after half-time, at 41 years and 17 days, which UEFA lists as the oldest goal ever scored in the Nations League. Adam Karabec equalised and Marco Pasalic headed the winner from Perisic’s cross with 13 minutes left (our report).

Three days later Spain won 4-1 in Seville. Dion Drena Beljo headed his first international goal to make it 1-1, and Lamine Yamal scored twice (report). Then came Rijeka, played without Croatia’s own fans because of a UEFA sanction, in front of a crowd that was mostly schoolchildren. England were 4-0 up at half-time and finished 7-0, beating the 6-0 by Spain in 2018 as Croatia’s heaviest defeat. “Losing like this and squandering the reputation we’ve built over the years is unacceptable,” Modric said (report).

Split was closer. Perisic headed Croatia in front after 17 minutes, his 40th international goal, but Mikel Merino equalised, Perisic was sent off for a second yellow card with 11 minutes left, and Merino scored again two minutes from time (report). Croatia let in 14 goals in the four games and 13 in the last three, all with Dominik Livakovic in goal.

Bilic made 19 substitutions. Kramaric, with 119 caps and 36 goals, was on the bench for all four games and did not get on. Majer and the reserve goalkeepers Ivor Pandur and Dominik Kotarski were the other three who did not play.

Where do Croatia stand in their Nations League group?

Team	P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
Spain	4	4	0	0	+7	12
England	4	3	0	1	+11	9
Croatia	4	1	0	3	-10	3
Czechia	4	0	0	4	-8	0

Third, on three points, with two games left. Croatia can still reach nine, but England are on nine already, so one more England point puts the quarter-finals out of reach. Czechia are three points behind Croatia, and the last game of the group is Croatia against Czechia on 15 November.

Fourth place is the one to avoid. In this edition of the Nations League, the bottom team in a League A group either goes into a play-off with a League B side in March 2027 or is relegated straight to League B.

Is Luka Modric still playing for Croatia?

Yes. Reports through August had him retiring after the Split game on 6 October, but on 5 September the Croatian federation said he had agreed with Bilic and federation president Marijan Kustic to carry on. He played in all four games of the window, starting three, and now has 206 caps, the Croatian record. He became the fourth man to reach 200 caps when Croatia played Panama in Toronto at the World Cup on 24 June.

The goal in Prague was his 30th for Croatia. He turned 41 on 9 September, and he plays his club football for AC Milan.

Croatia’s key players

Josko Gvardiol started all four games and is the player the defence is built around. The Manchester City centre-back is 24 and has 56 caps. Next to him, Luka Vuskovic played in every game at 19 and is up to ten caps. Brighton signed him from Tottenham in the summer for a club record fee.

Ivan Perisic is still the side’s most dangerous forward at 37. He started all four, made the winner in Prague, scored in Split, and has 40 goals in 162 caps, five behind Davor Suker’s record. He also made Croatia’s goal in Seville, crossing for Beljo.

Mateo Kovacic started every game in midfield, and Petar Sucic, 22, played in all four. Dominik Livakovic has 83 caps and is still first choice in goal, though he moved to Barcelona in August as a back-up.

Who is Croatia’s head coach?

Slaven Bilic, in his second spell. He ran the national team from 2006 to 2012 and was presented again in Zagreb on 13 July 2026, replacing Zlatko Dalic, who stepped down after the World Cup. Dalic took Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final and third place in 2022. After Rijeka he said the responsibility was his, as the coach. Four games in, he has one win and Croatia’s heaviest defeat on his record, and November will decide how much of that sticks.

How did Croatia do at the 2026 World Cup?

They went out in the round of 32, beaten 2-1 by Portugal in Toronto on 2 July. Perisic gave them the lead before Cristiano Ronaldo equalised from the spot and Goncalo Ramos headed the winner in stoppage time. Croatia had finished second in Group L on six points: England beat them 4-2 in Arlington, then Ante Budimir’s header beat Panama and they won 2-1 against Ghana in Philadelphia.

Croatia’s all-time records

Record	Player	Total
Most caps	Luka Modric	206
Most goals	Davor Suker	45
Second-highest scorer	Ivan Perisic	40
Third-highest scorer	Andrej Kramaric	36
Fourth-highest scorer	Mario Mandzukic	33

Suker scored his 45 goals in 68 games between 1992 and 2002. Perisic, the closest active player, is five short.

When do Croatia play next?

Date	Match	Venue	Kick-off (IST)
Thursday 12 November	England v Croatia	Wembley, London	1:15am, Friday 13 November
Sunday 15 November	Croatia v Czechia	Croatia, stadium to be confirmed	1:15am, Monday 16 November

The Wembley game is England’s chance to qualify, and Harry Kane’s to break the England appearance record. See our England squad guide for the side Croatia face there, and the Spain squad that beat them twice. More squad guides: the Portugal side that knocked Croatia out of the World Cup and the Germany squad.

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