Runners-up in 2018, third place in 2022: Can Croat...

Rob DawsonJun 16, 2026, 03:19 AM ET

Josko Gvardiol doesn't know the answer to the question everyone seems to ask when it comes to Croatia and the FIFA World Cup. Ivan Rakitić is at a loss, too.

How does a country with a population of less than 4 million people keep punching so far above its weight? Not even the players who have been part of it can tell you.

In terms of population alone, Croatia should struggle to reach the World Cup. But not only do they qualify, they also regularly exceed expectations once they get there.

This summer marks the 30th anniversary of their first international tournament at the European Championship in 1996, coming just five years after the country was officially declared independent from Yugoslavia in 1991. It will also be their fourth straight World Cup appearance, and after finishing third in 2022 and second in 2018, the mystery of how it's possible for such a small country to consistently compete at the highest level is a difficult one to solve -- even for Rakitić, one of the stars in Russia eight years ago, and Gvardiol, who stood out in Qatar four years later.

"Maybe it's in the food," laughed Gvardiol when asked by ESPN for the secret of Croatia's success. "I think no one knows. It is difficult to tell.

"All I can say is that we have good players. Most of the team are playing in the top teams. And yeah, I don't ... there is no explanation, but I can say that we know when we are with the national team, we give everything. We have a huge support from our fans even though we are a small nation."

Of the 48 teams to qualify for this summer's World Cup, only Qatar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde and Curaçao have smaller populations than Croatia. Their domestic league is ranked 20th by UEFA, behind both Cyprus and Austria.

To put it into context, Italy -- a country of close to 60 million and with the second-strongest domestic league in Europe according to UEFA -- have failed to qualify for the past three World Cups and haven't been past the group stage in 20 years.

Croatia joined FIFA only in 1992 and yet have the same number of semifinal appearances (three) as England, who have been entering World Cups since 1950.

"Truly we don't know how it works," Rakitić told ESPN. "Really, I think it's about the love for the country and feeling so proud.

"It's a country that loves football. We love sport, but especially football. It's really important here. For us here in Croatia, football is very important. We know that maybe our infrastructure is not at the highest level, but we try to do other things at the highest level.

"This is football, this is sport. Everything can happen. Not always the bigger team or the bigger country have to win. We give our best, and I think that's why we have big results."

Rakitić was a key part of the Croatia team that beat Argentina and England on its way to the final in Russia 2018, where it lost 4-2 to France. The former Barcelona midfielder retired from international duty in 2019, but a core of the squad that performed so well in Russia and Qatar in 2022 is back again.

Luka Modric, once of Real Madrid but now at AC Milan, will play at his sixth World Cup at the age of 40. Elevated to godlike status in Croatia as one of the most prominent figures in the country's post-independent history, Modric has a relationship with head coach Zlatko Dalić that allows him a voice in decision-making around tournament planning and tactical approaches to games.

Veteran campaigners Dominik Livakovic, Mateo Kovacic, Ivan Perisic and Andrej Kramaric have also made the cut for the tournament.

And with Dalić, in the job for nine years after initially serving as an emergency appointment in 2017, Croatia are hoping the continuity will help re-create the team spirit that has been central to their impressive World Cup record.

"Russia in 2018 was the most important tournament in my career, for sure," Rakitić said. "The secret for us is the team, the atmosphere. We believed, and everything from the coach was really clear. We understood that everything is possible.

"I think we thought it was possible because in that moment our team was really strong. We had some players who were at the biggest clubs in the world. After that it was a bit of magic!"

For the younger players in the squad, the World Cup offers a platform to further their own careers. Gvardiol's performances in reaching the last four in Qatar convinced Manchester City to press ahead with plans to sign him from RB Leipzig six months later.

The 24-year-old suffered a broken leg in January but has battled back to fitness just in time for the tournament.

"Qatar was my first World Cup and something that I would say made me famous," Gvardiol said, laughing. "For me it was just a normal tournament. At that time, I didn't know how big the World Cup actually is, being at the World Cup. I was just playing a new game. Every game is a new game, no matter who we face.

"If you ask me now, I would say I have changed a lot, and I understand how difficult it is to be at the World Cup. It's a huge achievement again for our nation, for our national team, for Croatia."

As always with Croatia, they will kick off their World Cup campaign with minimal fanfare outside of their own country. Drawn in Group L with England, Panama and Ghana, they're ranked as 80-1 outsiders by the bookmakers alongside the likes of Switzerland and Türkiye. They kick off against England in Texas on June 17, looking to add to their list of World Cup upsets.

"The group stage is hard, maybe the hardest we could get," Rakitić said. "We'll see after the first game against England.

"We should enjoy the moment, and the most important part will be to get through the group stage, and in a one-off game [in the knockouts] anything is possible. The most important part is to go through the group stage."

After that -- as they've found in their past two World Cup appearances -- anything can happen, even for one of the smallest countries at the tournament. The never-say-die attitude is summed up in their knockout record from Russia and Qatar, where they won four penalty shootouts across both tournaments.

Rakitić believes the current crop of players will know there's an element of fear for any team drawn against Croatia when the tournament becomes win-or-go-home.

"The quality is there and the experience is there," he said. "Luka is still ready, and I think there are many things looking quite good. Our coach will prepare the team in the best way like he did in the past.

"I think teams will not be so happy to play against Croatia, and we have to use that. Maybe they will be a little bit nervous to play against us."

Croatia is a small country, but one with a big reputation for upsetting the odds.