The Croatian national team have officially confirmed the Croatia Preliminary World Cup squad for 2026, with the main squad already whittled down to the allowed 26 but with a set of call-up/stand-in players on hand in case of injuries. The squad will be finalised when the nation leaves for the tournament with them set to open their campaign in Group L against England on June 17.
Read More: Spain Preliminary World Cup 2026 Squad Announced
33-Man Croatia Preliminary World Cup Squad Revealed
Goalkeepers
- Dominik Livakovic
- Dominik Kotarski
- Ivor Pandur
Defenders
- Josko Gvardiol
- Duje Caleta-Car
- Josip Sutalo
- Josip Stanisic
- Martin Eric
- Luka Vuskovic
Midfielders
- Luka Modric
- Mateo Kovacic
- Mario Pasalic
- Nikola Vlasic
- Luka Sucic
- Martin Baturina
- Kristijan Jakic
- Petar Sucic
- Nikola Moro
- Toni Fruik
Attackers
- Ivan Perisic
- Andrej Kramaric
- Ante Budimir
- Marco Pasalic
- Petar Musa
- Igor Matanovic
Stand-By Roster
- Lovro Majer
- Franjo Ivanovic
- Dion Drena Beljo
- Ivan Smolcic
- Karlo Letica
- Adrian Segecic
- Luka Stojkovic
The national team has gone for a heap of experience with timeless midfielder Modric being joined by some veteran names like Kocacic in the middle of the park. With a lot of young talent in the nation like Vuskovic, there were some tough decisions to make with the manager preferring something a bit more tried and true.
The addition of Gvardiol comes after he has been dealing with injury problems for Manchester City for most of 2026, but the defender has returned to action and looks fit to see out the term with his club. Having him available will do wonders for the country’s hopes of getting deep into the tournament despite being tasked with facing England and Ghana in the group stage.
The Euros was a relative success for the nation, they’ll be hoping to use their veteran know-how and talent to make the 2026 World Cup just as successful internally.
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IMAGO / HANZA MEDIA,
