Croatia women's national football team

Croatia
Nickname(s)	Lavice[citation needed]
Association	Hrvatski Nogometni Savez
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Nenad Gračan
Captain	Iva Landeka
Most caps	Iva Landeka (92)
Top scorer	Maja Joščak (20)
FIFA code	CRO
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	57 1 (16 August 2024)
Highest	44 (July 2003)
Lowest	65 (November 2010)
First international
	Slovenia 3–2 Croatia ; (Ižakovci, Slovenia; 28 October 1993)
Biggest win
	Croatia 8–2 Slovenia ; (Kecskemét, Hungary; 27 May 2001)
Biggest defeat
	Romania 10–0 Croatia ; (Bucharest, Romania; 2 October 2004)

The Croatia women's national football team represents the Republic of Croatia in international football. The team is managed by the Croatian Football Federation, the governing body for football in the country.

History

After winning independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, the newly established Croatian Football Federation immediately moved toward creating separate national football teams to represent the country, which included the establishment of the women's team. Three years after the men's team debut, the women's team of Croatia officially marked their international debut, playing against neighbouring Slovenia in a friendly on 28 October 1993, where Croatia lost 2–3 away.

Since its inception, the women's team of Croatia has suffered from the lack of coverage from the increasingly successful men's side. Most of Croatia's female footballers, unlike the male ones, are made up of only amateur or part-timers, and thus they are not adequately trained. As for the result, while the men's team has been largely competitive and qualified for several UEFA European Championship and FIFA World Cup, the women's team is unable to repeat the same as the men's one, and has a tendency of being finished near bottom or bottom of the qualifications for UEFA Women's Championship and FIFA Women's World Cup.

Team image

Nicknames

The Croatia women's national football team has been known or nicknamed as the "Lavice".^{[citation needed]}

Rivalry

Like the men's counterparts, the Croatian women's team also maintained a rivalry with its neighbour Serbia. However, unlike the men's, the women's team of Croatia, long suffered from lack of investment, could not demonstrate its domination against its Serbian arch-rival.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Legend

Win Draw Lose Fixture

2022

19 February Friendly	Slovenia	1–0	Croatia	Poreč
	Prašnikar 81'			Stadium: Stadion Veli Jože

8 April 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group G	Moldova	0–1	Croatia	Chișinău
17:00		Report	Ljuština 36'	Stadium: Zimbru Stadium Referee: María Martínez (Spain)

12 April 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group G	Croatia	0–1	Romania	Velika Gorica
17:00		Report	Geréd 4'	Stadium: Gradski stadion Referee: Cheryl Foster (Wales)

2 September 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group G	Croatia	0–2	Switzerland	Karlovac
		Report	Bachmann 53' Bühler 65'	Stadium: Stadion Branko Čavlović-Čavlek Referee: Eleni Antoniou (Greece)

6 September 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group G	Lithuania	0–1	Croatia
		Report

10 November International friendly	Azerbaijan	0–0	Croatia	Baku, Azerbaijan
		Report		Stadium: Dalga Arena Referee: Fəridə Lütfəliyeva (Azerbaijan)

13 November Friendly	Azerbaijan	1–2	Croatia	Baku
				Stadium: Dalga Arena

Coaching staff

As of 30 May 2021

Position	Staff
Head Coach	Mate Prskalo
Assistant Coach	Stella Gotal
Assistant Coach	Božidar Miletić
Goalkeeping Coach	Blaž Bugarin

Source: [1]

Players

Current squad

The following players were named to the squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group G match against Switzerland on 26 October 2021.^[2]

Caps and goals as of 22 February 2021.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Doris Bačić	(1995-02-23) 23 February 1995 (age 29)	48	0	Levante Las Planas
12	1GK	Ana Filipović	(2003-07-04) 4 July 2003 (age 21)			ŽNK Dinamo Zagreb

3	2DF	Ana Jelenčić	(1994-06-08) 8 June 1994 (age 30)	21	0	Parma
4	2DF	Leonarda Balog	(1993-02-05) 5 February 1993 (age 31)	45	1	St. Pölten
5	2DF	Katarina Pranješ	(2002-10-07) 7 October 2002 (age 22)	1	0	Split
6	2DF	Lea Zdunić	(1998-12-10) 10 December 1998 (age 25)
14	2DF	Antonia Dulčić	(1997-02-04) 4 February 1997 (age 27)	13	0	Split
15	2DF	Maria Kunštek	(1998-11-06) 6 November 1998 (age 26)			ŽNK Osijek
16	2DF	Martina Taritaš	(2000-10-25) 25 October 2000 (age 24)	3	0	Dinamo Zagreb
19	2DF	Janja Čanjevac	(1999-08-08) 8 August 1999 (age 25)	2	0	Hajduk

2	3MF	Petra Bračević	(1997-08-28) 28 August 1997 (age 27)
7	3MF	Petra Pezelj	(1998-10-28) 28 October 1998 (age 26)			ŽNK Split
13	3MF	Helena Spajić	(2000-02-08) 8 February 2000 (age 24)	11	0	Dinamo Zagreb
20	3MF	Nika Petarić	(2002-06-02) 2 June 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Dinamo Zagreb
21	3MF	Fatjesa Gegollaj	(2001-11-05) 5 November 2001 (age 23)	3	0	Sion
22	3MF	Anela Lubina	(1995-12-18) 18 December 1995 (age 28)	22	1	Osijek

9	4FW	Andrea Glibo	(2002-04-05) 5 April 2002 (age 22)			SK Sturm Graz
10	4FW	Izabela Lojna	(1992-05-11) 11 May 1992 (age 32)			ŽNK Osijek
11	4FW	Ivana Kirilenko	(2000-06-21) 21 June 2000 (age 24)	1	0	Unattached
17	4FW	Karla Jedvaj	(2000-11-16) 16 November 2000 (age 24)			ŽNK Dinamo Zagreb

Recent call-ups

The following players were named to a squad in the last 12 months.

This list may be incomplete.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up

Competitive record

FIFA Women's World Cup

FIFA Women's World Cup record									Qualification record
Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1991	Part of Yugoslavia
1995	Did not enter
1999	Did not enter
2003	Did not qualify								8	4	1	3	16	11	+5
2007									6	3	0	3	11	11	0
2011									10	0	2	8	4	27	−23
2015									10	2	2	6	7	20	−13
2019									8	0	3	5	5	20	−15
2023									10	3	1	6	6	18	−12
Total	0/9	–							52	12	9	31	49	107	−58

UEFA Women's Championship

UEFA Women's Championship record									Qualification record
Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1995	Did not qualify								6	3	1	2	8	18	−10
1997									8	0	1	7	2	23	−21
2001									6	1	0	5	7	19	−12
2005									8	4	1	3	17	22	−5
2009									3	2	0	1	9	6	+3
2013									8	0	1	7	6	26	−20
2017									8	2	1	5	8	15	−7
2022									8	2	1	5	7	19	−12
Total	0/8	–							55	14	6	35	64	148	−84

Individual statistics

As of 16 September 2022

Most capped players

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Iva Landeka	96	14	2006–2022
2	Sandra Žigić	89	10	2005–2019
3	Kristina Nevrkla	76	1	2008–2019
4	Maja Joščak	71	20	2006–2019
5	Izabela Lojna	63	11	2010–
6	Doris Bačić	60	0	2011–
7	Kristina Šundov	58	8	2003–2020
7	Violeta Baban	58	8	2002–2016
9	Leonarda Balog	57	1	2009–
10	Antonijela Horvat	42	0	2001–2009

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Maja Joščak	20	71	0.28	2006–2019
2	Iva Landeka	15	96	0.16	2006–2022
3	Katarina Kolar	14	33	0.42	2006–2014
4	Marina Koljenik	13	35	0.37	1994–2007
4	Ivana Rudelić	13	36	0.36	2015–
6	Ljiljana Jakšić	12	22	0.55	1995–2005
7	Izabela Lojna	11	63	0.17	2010–
8	Sandra Žigić	10	89	0.11	2005–2019
9	Kristina Šundov	8	58	0.14	2003–2020
9	Violeta Baban	8	58	0.14	2002–2016

References

^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking". FIFA. 16 August 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
^ "Mate Prskalo objavio popis reprezentativki uoči utakmice s Rumunjskom" (in Croatian). Hrvatski Nogometni Savez. Retrieved 22 February 2021.

External links

Official Croatia women's national football team website (in English)
Croatia profile at FIFA.com (in English)

[FIFA_Women's_World_Rankings-1] "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking". FIFA. 16 August 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.

[2] "Mate Prskalo objavio popis reprezentativki uoči utakmice s Rumunjskom" (in Croatian). Hrvatski Nogometni Savez. Retrieved 22 February 2021.

[1]

[2]

v t e Football in Croatia
Croatian Football Federation (HNS)
National teams	Men's: A B U23 U21 U20 U19 U18 U17 U16 U15 Women's: A U19 U17
League system	Men's: HNL 1. NL 2. NL 3. NL 1. ŽNL 2. ŽNL Women's: 1. HNLŽ 2. HNLŽ
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Records List of clubs List of venues International players Men Women

v t e National women's football teams of Europe (UEFA)
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