Croatia–Serbia football rivalry

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Croatia–Serbia football rivalry
Croatia (above) and Serbia (below),
2018 FIFA World Cup
LocationEurope (UEFA)
Teams Croatia
 Serbia
First meeting18 August 1999
UEFA Euro 2000
FR Yugoslavia 0–0 Croatia
Latest meeting6 September 2013
2014 FIFA World Cup
Serbia 1–1 Croatia
Statistics
Meetings total4
Most winsCroatia (1)
Top scorerCroatia Mario Mandžukić (2)
All-time recordCroatia: 1
Draw: 3
Serbia: 0
Largest victory22 March 2013
2014 FIFA World Cup
Croatia 2–0 Serbia
Largest goal scoring9 October 1999
UEFA Euro 2000
Croatia 2–2 FR Yugoslavia
Croatia–Serbia football rivalry is located in Europe
Croatia
Croatia
Serbia
Serbia

The Croatia–Serbia football rivalry is a football rivalry between the national football teams of Croatia and Serbia. It is considered to be one of the most hostile in world football due to their complex political history stemming from World War II and the breakup of Yugoslavia. The two rivals had previously both represented the Yugoslavia national football team,[1][2] and contributed the bulk of the teams footballers during almost 70 years of its existence.[3][4] Both national sides are governed by UEFA in Europe, in addition to FIFA during their international matches.

History

Origins

The two countries first played in the semi-final of the one-off 1945 Yugoslav Football Tournament. The Home Championship/Victory International-style competition was played amongst six federal republics of Yugoslavia, one autonomous region and the Yugoslav People's Army team to mark the end of World War II. Serbia featured a team almost entirely composed of Red Star Belgrade players whilst Dinamo Zagreb was the primary contributor to the Croatian line-up. The match was played in Belgrade's 20th October Stadium with Serbia defeating Croatia 3–1, and progressing to the final where they beat the Army team 1–0. These matches are not formally recognized by FIFA or UEFA as this was a domestic tournament organised by the Football Association of Yugoslavia.[5][6]

On 13 May 1990, Dinamo Zagreb hosted Red Star Belgrade at Stadion Maksimir in the Yugoslav First League. It was two weeks after Croatia's first election, in the middle of ethnic tensions in Yugoslavia. The game was interrupted after only ten minutes, as Dinamo's ultras Bad Blue Boys and Red Star's ultras Delije started an infamous riot. The incident is remembered for Dinamo's Zvonimir Boban kicking a Militia officer, after seeing him beating a Dinamo ultra. Boban was suspended for six months by the Football Association of Yugoslavia and expelled from the squad for the 1990 FIFA World Cup.[7]

On 3 June 1990, a

its first international match as a sovereign country, against the United States
.

UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying

The first official international match after 54 years between Croatia and Serbia (the latter playing as

red card. The incident motivated Croatia even more resulting in Mario Stanić's equalizer in 47th minute, drawing the match.[13]

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Croatia and now-independent Serbia met again 14 years later in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification. The first match was played on 22 March 2013 at Stadion Maksimir and ended up as a 2–0 victory for Croatia following goals by Mario Mandžukić and Ivica Olić.[14] The return game was played on 6 September 2013 at the Red Star Stadium and ended up as a 1–1 draw. Croatia took the lead after Mandžukić scored in 53rd minute but Serbia equalized in 66th minute through Aleksandar Mitrović.[12] In 80th minute, Josip Šimunić tackled Miralem Sulejmani as the latter was running towards Croatia's goal. As a result, he received a red card.[15][16] Croatia finished the qualification as the group runners-up and went on to beat Iceland 2–0 on aggregate in the play-offs. Serbia ended up third in the group with three points less than Croatia and subsequently did not qualify for the tournament.

UEFA Euro 2020

On 30 November 2019, a draw for

Round of 16.[20]

Matches

Statistics

Competition Croatia Wins Draws Serbia Wins
Total 1 3 0

Top scorers

Comparison in major international tournaments

Key

  Denotes which team finished better in that particular competition.

Tournament  Croatia  Yugoslavia Notes
Sweden UEFA Euro 1992 Not a FIFA member Suspended Yugoslavia qualified but was banned from international sports tournaments as part of United Nations Security Council Resolution 757.
United States 1994 FIFA World Cup Suspended
England UEFA Euro 1996 7th
France 1998 FIFA World Cup 3rd 10th In the quarter-finals, Croatia eliminated Germany, who had previously drawn with Yugoslavia in the group stage. In the third place play-off, Croatia defeated the Netherlands, who had previously eliminated Yugoslavia in the round of 16.
Belgium Netherlands UEFA Euro 2000 Did not qualify 8th Yugoslavia denied Croatia's qualification to the tournament following a goalless draw in Belgrade and a 2–2 draw in Zagreb, as Croatia needed a win in Zagreb to qualify.
South Korea Japan 2002 FIFA World Cup 23rd Did not qualify
Portugal UEFA Euro 2004 13th  Serbia and Montenegro
Did not qualify
Germany 2006 FIFA World Cup 22nd 32nd
Austria Switzerland UEFA Euro 2008 5th  Serbia
Did not qualify
South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup Did not qualify 23rd
Poland Ukraine UEFA Euro 2012 10th Did not qualify
Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup 19th Croatia and Serbia were drawn in the same qualifying group. Following a 2–0 win in Zagreb and a 1–1 draw in Belgrade, Croatia ended the qualification as the group runner-up with three points ahead of third-placed Serbia.
France UEFA Euro 2016 9th
Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup
2nd
 		23rd
Portugal 2019 UEFA Nations League 9th Did not qualify
Europe UEFA Euro 2020 14th Did not qualify Had Serbia qualified through the Path C play-offs, they would've been placed in the same group as Croatia, following a draw on 30 November 2019.
Italy 2021 UEFA Nations League 12th Did not qualify
Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup 3rd 29th In the quarter-finals, Croatia eliminated Brazil, who had previously defeated Serbia in the group stage.
Netherlands 2023 UEFA Nations League 2nd Did not qualify Serbia was promoted to League A but did not qualify for the year's tournament finals.

See also

References

  1. ^ The Daily Telegraph
  2. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 2021-06-21.
  3. ^ "Mixed emotions in Balkans over Croatia's World Cup success". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
  4. ^ "Croatia v Serbia the rematch: memories of riots, battles and war". The Independent. 2013-03-22. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
  5. ^ "1945". 2018-06-05. Archived from the original on 2018-06-05. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
  6. ^ "Yugoslavia - List of Final Tables". RSSSF. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
  7. ^ Gault, Matt (28 September 2015). "ZVONIMIR BOBAN AND THE KICK THAT STARTED A WAR". These Football Times.
  8. ^ Football Archived 4 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Remember the last time we hosted the Netherlands?". Archived from the original on 2008-02-06. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
  10. ^ In the bus
  11. ^ Yugoslavia National Team List of Results 1990-1999 Archived 19 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, RSSSF
  12. ^ a b "PRELISTAVALI SMO ISTORIJU: Orlovi su na OVO dugo čekali protiv Hrvatske! (VIDEO)". Srbija Danas (in Serbian). 30 November 2019.
  13. ^ Čobanov, Saša (29 May 2016). "Tužna noć na Maksimiru ´99 kad su mnogi po posljednji put bili patetični, ali iskreni navijači Hrvatske". Index.hr (in Croatian).
  14. ^ "Croatia vs. Serbia - Football Match Stats - March 22, 2013 - ESPN". ESPN.com. 22 March 2013.
  15. ^ ""Crazy Joe" zgrozio Srbe: "Ovo je najgori start na Marakani ikada!"". Index.hr (in Croatian). 7 September 2013.
  16. ^ "Serbia vs. Croatia - Football Match Summary - September 6, 2013 - ESPN - ESPN.com". ESPN.com. 6 September 2013.
  17. ^ Trifunović, Boris (30 November 2019). "Vatreni s Engleskom otvaraju Euro! Srbi mogu u našu grupu". 24sata (in Croatian).
  18. ^ HINA (8 October 2020). "Srbija u drami pobijedila Norvešku i napravila veliki korak prema skupini s Hrvatskom". Gol.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  19. ^ Watt, Martin (12 November 2020). "Scots win shootout to end finals wait". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  20. ^ Mullen, Scott (22 June 2021). "Scotland's Euro hopes ended by Croatia". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
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