Croatia national under-20 football team
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| Nickname | Mladi Vatreni (The Young Blazers) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Croatian Football Federation (HNS) | ||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach | Mladen IvančićSergej Milivojević | ||
| Most caps | Alen Maras (14) | ||
| Top scorer | Ahmad Sharbini (7) | ||
| FIFA code | CRO | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
 Slovenia 0–1 Croatia  (Brežice, Slovenia; 22 September 1994) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 Hungary 0–6 Croatia (Hungary; 5 September 1995) Croatia 6-0 Italy  (Umag, Croatia; 15 March 2006) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Brazil 4–0 Croatia (Calabar, Nigeria; 14 April 1999) Slovenia 4–0 Croatia (Brežice, Slovenia; 4 April 2006) Croatia 0–4 Serbia  (Županja, Croatia; 22 May 2012) | |||
| FIFA U-20 World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 3 (first in 1999) | ||
| Best result | Round of 16 (1999, 2013) | ||
| Website | hns-cff.hr | ||
The Croatia national under-20 football team represents Croatia in international football matches for players aged 20 or under. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Croatia. It is a member of UEFA in Europe and FIFA in global competitions. The team's colours reference two national symbols: the Croatian checkerboard and the country's tricolour. They are colloquially referred to as the Mladi vatreni ('Young Blazers'). So far, the Mladi vatreni qualified for three FIFA U-20 World Cups, namely in 1999, 2011 and 2013. The team's greatest accomplishment is passing the group stage at the 1999 and 2013 tournaments.
The U20 team is the de facto U19 of the previous year, and it acts mainly as a feeder team for the U21s and provides further international development for youth players. The team qualifies for the FIFA U-20 World Cup based on the success of the U19 at the UEFA European Under-19 Championship.
The U20 national team was formed in 1994. The first match was played against the team of Austrian region Styria, and the first match against FIFA member was against Italy on 8 February 1995.
Croatia managed to qualify for 1999 FIFA U-20 World Cup. That was the second appearance from the Croatian football team in the FIFA competition, after A team appeared on FIFA World Cup in France in 1998. They passed the group, then lost to Brazil by 4–0 in Round of 16.
On 24 July 2010, after trashing Portugal 5–0 in 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championship group game, Croatia qualified for the semi-final. Also, it secured a spot in 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia.
Another good performance by the U19 team at 2012 championship saw Croatia qualifying for the World Cup, this time held in Turkey in 2013.
Recent results
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Win Draw Loss Fixture
2025
2023
| 1 June 2023 Friendly | Croatia | 1–1 |  China | Velika Gorica, Croatia |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Stadion Radnik |
| 3 June 2023 Friendly | Croatia | 4–1 | China | Velika Gorica, Croatia |
| 17:30 | Report |
|
Stadium: Stadion Radnik |
Coaching staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Ognjen Vukojević |
| Assistant coaches | Mato Neretljak Mario Carević |
| Goalkeeping coach | Marjan Mrmić |
| Fitness coach | Ivan Krakan |
| Physiotherapists | Ivan Halambek |
| Doctors | Goran Madžarac |
| Chief instructor | Petar Krpan |
| Team manager | Denis Lukša |
Current squad
The following is the squad named for friendly matches against China played on 1 and 3 June 2023.[1]
Competitive record
Winners Runners-up Third place Tournament hosted
Croatian under-20 team played most of its matches competing in a regional cup called Mirop Cup, also known as Cup Alpe-Adria, with groups of Slovenia, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and teams of some Austrian and Hungarian regions. Croatia won that cup three times in a row, in 1994, 1995 and 1996, and ever after.
FIFA U-20 World Cup
| FIFA U-20 World Cup | Qualification | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Host | Round | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Squad | Pos. | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | |
| 1977 to 1991 | Part of Yugoslavia | Part of Yugoslavia | |||||||||||||||
| 1993 |  Australia | Not a UEFA member | Not a UEFA member | ||||||||||||||
| 1995 |  Qatar | Did not qualify | See Croatia national under-19 football team | ||||||||||||||
| 1997 |  Malaysia | ||||||||||||||||
| 1999 |  Nigeria | Round of 16 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | Squad | ||||||||
| 2001 |  Argentina | Did not qualify | |||||||||||||||
| 2003 |  United Arab Emirates | ||||||||||||||||
| 2005 |  Netherlands | ||||||||||||||||
| 2007 |  Canada | ||||||||||||||||
| 2009 |  Egypt | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011 |  Colombia | Group stage | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | Squad | ||||||||
| 2013 |  Turkey | Round of 16 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | Squad | ||||||||
| 2015 |  New Zealand | Did not qualify | |||||||||||||||
| 2017 |  South Korea | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019 |  Poland | ||||||||||||||||
| 2021 |  Indonesia | Cancelled | |||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Argentina | Did not qualify | |||||||||||||||
| 2025 |  Chile | ||||||||||||||||
| 2027 |  Azerbaijan Uzbekistan | To be determined | |||||||||||||||
| Total | Round of 16 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 18 | — | |||||||||
