Croatia men's national handball team

Handball in Austria-Hungary (1904–1918)

The word handball in the Croatian region was first used by Franjo Bučar, describing the German game Schleuderball in the journal Sokol 1904. The earliest documented forms of playing handball in these areas appear in 1911 in the gymnasium of Pazin, which is among other things due to the fact that programs for education in Istria, as part of the then Austrian coast, coming from the education center in Graz. In Croatia, at the time handball was in high school programs closing ceremony. It was a kind of Czech handball extended from the Czech Republic, where it was adopted by the Osijek and Vukovar students from Prague. ^[3]

Between the two world wars (1918–1941)

In the early beginnings of the Croatian handball, venues played field handball and handball. Students were still more attracted to field handball, because the little handball were played on makeshift courts without the right door, as opposed to the field handball, which is played on the existing football fields. ^[4] During the Kingdom of Yugoslavia first public handball match in the Croatian region was played and in the wider neighborhood. It was played in a high school in Varaždin 29 May 1930 under the guidance of physical education teachers Zvonimir Šuligoj. Since that game, until 1950, in Croatia and Yugoslavia publicly played exclusively field handball, on the football field with eleven players on each side. In high school in Zagreb on 1 June 1935, opened the first handball courts in Yugoslavia. ^[5]

The establishment of Croatian Handball Federation and the first Croatian national team (1941–1945)

At the beginning of World War II Kingdom of Yugoslavia disintegrated. Most of the territory inhabited by Croats on 10 April 1941, it became part of the newly formed Independent State of Croatia (NDH). As part of the new state on 2 October 1941 in Zagreb for the first time in history the Croatian Handball Federation (HRS) was established. ^[6] The place of foundation is recorded to be at the Croatian Sports home in Jurišićeva, Zagreb. HRS is the umbrella organization of handball in the ISC coordinated the work of a dozen clubs and until 1944 organized national championships. In the state of NDH was established the first Croatian handball team. The first training for practice-match team NDH was held on 12 October 1941 between the two teams selected from the head coach Dragutin Pehe. His first and only international match this team played on 14 June 1942 with Hungary in Budapest where they lost 0:9. This field handball match was played in front of 30,000 spectators at the then NEP Stadium (since 2002 Ferenc Puskás Stadium) was a prelude meeting of the football teams of the same name. ^[7] The best handball player in the field was the goalkeeper Branko Kralj. Under the direction of the coach Ante Škrtić, the players for Croatia were Vlado Abramović, Irislav Dolenec, Žarko Galetović, Zvonko Leskovar, Todor Marinov, Viktor Medved, Krešo Pavlin, Vlado Šimanović Stjepan Širić, Josip Žitnik and reserve goalkeeper Zdenko Šurina. HRS stopped functioning in 1944 because of the war in World War II. ^[8]

Handball in SFR Yugoslavia (1945–1991)

• Yugoslavia national handball team

When the 1945 World War II ended, the territory of the Independent State of Croatia was included in the newly established SFR Yugoslavia.

Immediately after that began the reconstruction of the war abandoned handball in Yugoslavia, and that same year founded the Committee for handball Gymnastics Association Croatian, and in May 1948 the Committee for handball Gymnastics Association of Yugoslavia. Operation HRS is restored on 19 December 1948, in which he, in accordance with the national policy of the new Yugoslav state, name changed in the Croatian Handball Association (RSH). Handball Federation of Yugoslavia (RSJ) was established on 17 December 1949 in Belgrade by pooling national and provincial associations, and it became a member of the International Handball Federation (IHF) in 1950. ^[9]

After the end of World War II, most field handball players of NDH completed courses and became instructors or referees in handball. Some of them have become members of the field handball national team of Yugoslavia and played in its first international match, played on 19 June 1950 at the stadium in Stadion Kranjčevićeva in Zagreb, against Belgium. Yugoslavia won 18:3 playing with nine players from Zagreb, one from Split and one from Sarajevo. ^[10]

Since the end of World War II until the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, the best Croatian handball players in field and team handball played for the national team of Yugoslavia. With this national team Croatians have performed at 17 major competitions and won seven medals. These are two Olympic gold medals, the Olympic bronze, world gold, world silver and two bronze world. Among the other famous trophy, in this period they won 5 gold medals in five appearances at the Mediterranean Games (1967, 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1991), two gold and one bronze medal at the World Cups held in 1971, 1974 and 1984 in Sweden, 2 bronze medals at handball Super League held in 1981 and 1983 in Germany and silver at the 1990 goodwill Games in Seattle.

At the World Junior Championship in 1987 in Rijeka there was created a nucleus generation that will define the nineties and bring some of the most beautiful handball stories for the Croatian national team. Alvaro Načinović, Iztok Puc, Vladimir Jelčić and other predominantly have won this championship playing for Yugoslavia, and their talent and knowledge are later incorporated as seniors in the first Croatian success after independence of the country. ^[11]

Place	Croatians in the team of Yugoslavia [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32]	Croatian head coaches
10th place at WC 1952	Irislav Dolenec (player)	Ivan Snoj / Irislav Dolenec
5th place at WC 1955.	Irislav Dolenec (player), Stjepan Korbar	Ivan Snoj / Irislav Dolenec
8th place at WC 1958	Jerolim Karadža, Lovro Manestar, Božidar Peter, Zlatko Šimenc?, Ivan Špoljarić	Ivan Snoj
9th place at SP 1961.	Anton Bašić, Ivan Đuranec, Zvonko Jandroković, Jerolim Karadža, Božidar Peter, [33] Zlatko Šimenc?	Ivan Snoj
6th place at WC 1964	Vojislav Bjegović, Vinko Dekaris, Ivan Đuranec, Lujo Györy, Jerolim Karadža, Zvonko Kocijan, Josip Milković, Vladimir Vićan, Albin Vidović, Zlatko Žagmešter	Ivan Snoj
7th place at WC 1967	Vinko Dekaris, Ivan Đuranec, Hrvoje Horvat, Jerolim Karadža, Branko Klišanin, Josip Milković, Miroslav Pribanić, Dobrivoje Selec, Ninoslav Tomašić, Ivan Uremović, [34] Vladimir Vićan	Ivan Snoj / Irislav Dolenec
Gold medal at MG 1967	Hrvoje Horvat, Miroslav Klišanin, Josip Milković, Ivan Uremović, Albin Vidović	Ivan Snoj / Vlado Štencl
Bronze medal at WC 1970	Abas Arslanagić, Hrvoje Horvat, Marijan Jakšeković, Dragutin Mervar, Josip Milković, Miroslav Pribanić, Zlatko Žagmešter	Ivan Snoj / Vlado Štencl
Gold medal at WC 1971		Ivan Snoj
Gold medal at OG 1972	Abas Arslanagić, Hrvoje Horvat, Zdravko Miljak, Miroslav Pribanić, Dobrivoje Selec, Albin Vidović, Zdenko Zorko	Ivan Snoj / Vlado Štencl
Bronze medal at WC 1974	Abas Arslanagić, Hrvoje Horvat, Zdravko Miljak, Željko Nimš, Zvonimir Serdarušić, Zdenko Zorko	Ivan Snoj / Josip Milković
Gold medal at WC 1974		Ivan Snoj
Gold medal at MG 1975	Abas Arslanagić, Zdravko Miljak, Željko Nimš, Miroslav Pribanić, Zvonimir Serdarušić, Zdenko Zorko	Ivan Snoj
5th place at OG 1976	Abas Arslanagić, Hrvoje Horvat, Zdravko Miljak, Željko Nimš, Zvonimir Serdarušić, Zdenko Zorko	Ivan Snoj / Pero Janjić
5th place at WC 1978 [35]	Hrvoje Horvat, Zdravko Miljak, Željko Nimš, Zvonimir Serdarušić, [36] Željko Vidaković, Zdenko Zorko	Ivan Snoj / Zdravko Malić
Gold medal at MG 1979	Pavle Jurina, Željko Vidaković, Zdravko Zovko, Željko Zovko
6th place OG 1980	Pavle Jurina, Stjepan Obran
Bronze medal SC 1981
Silver medal at WC 1982	Mirko Bašić, Pavle Jurina, Stjepan Obran, Zdravko Zovko
Bronze medal SC 1983
Gold medal at MG 1983	Mirko Bašić, Pavle Jurina, Stjepan Obran, Željko Vidaković, Zdravko Zovko
Bronze medal at SC 1984
Gold medal at OG 1984	Mirko Bašić, Pavle Jurina, Zdravko Zovko / Abas Arslanagić (GK coach)
Gold medal at WC 1986	Mirko Bašić, Zlatko Saračević / Abas Arslanagić (GK coach and fitness coach)
Bronze medal at OG 1988	Mirko Bašić, Boris Jarak, Alvaro Načinović, Goran Perkovac, Iztok Puc, Zlatko Saračević, Irfan Smajlagić	Abas Arslanagić
4th place at WC 1990 [37] [38]	Mirko Bašić, Nenad Kljaić, Iztok Puc, Zlatko Saračević, Irfan Smajlagić, Ratko Tomljanović
Silver medal at GG 1990 [39] [40]	Patrik Ćavar, Bruno Gudelj, Nenad Kljaić
Gold medal at MG 1991	Tomislav Farkaš, Valter Matošević

Official formation and first competitions (1991–1996)

Croatia on 30 May 1990 began the process of creating the independent state, and soon established and modern Croatian handball team. The first international match of the Croatian handball team was played on 14 January 1991 in Zagreb, in Kutija Šibica. It was a friendly match with Japan which ended in a draw 23:23. The team was coached by Josip Milković with assistant coach Lino Červar and the players were Patrik Čavar, Tonči Peribonio, Vlado Šola, Ivica Obrvan, Nenad Kljaić, Iztok Puc, Ratko Tomljanović, Bruno Gudelj, Željko Zovko, Stjepan Obran, Tomislav Farkaš, Robert Ipša, Ivo Glavinić and Goran Stojanović. ^[41] The dissolution of Yugoslavia that followed, Croatia gained full independence on 8 October 1991 the Croatian Handball Association (RSH) in 1992 restored the original name of the Croatian Handball Federation (HRS), and on 10 April 1992 became a member of the International Handball Federation (IHF), and 23 July 1992 members of the European Handball Federation (EHF). ^[42]

Taking fourth place at the 1990 World Championship in Czechoslovakia the Yugoslav national team was placed among the nine best teams of the tournament, which acquired them the right to participate in the upcoming 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. Because of the war and the disintegration of Yugoslavia, this team was disqualified, and should it was supposed to be specified who will replaced them in the games. Since the Croatian Olympic Committee (COC) was provisionally recognized on 17 January 1992 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and since Croatia had already on 22 May 1992 become a member of the United Nations, Croatian handball players had conditions to perform at the Olympic Games in 1992. ^[43] This unfortunately did not happen. Although Croatia in terms of game was handball superpower, it was decided that Yugoslavia would be replaced by Iceland at the games as they finished tenth at the 1990 World Championship. ^[44] Adverse effects of certain officials in the IOC prevented even the option of maintaining an additional qualifying tournament like the one held for the Croatian basketball players. Croatia also missed the 1993 World Championship in Sweden, because the World Championship in 1990 was an elimination tournament for this championship.

The following years, in spite of the short history of the country brought the Croatian team very significant results in important competitions. Croatia won its first official competition at the Mediterranean Games in 1993 in Languedoc-Roussillon, France, Croatia won gold. At the first ever European Championship in 1994 held in Portugal the team was led by Zdravko Zovko they won their first medal at this first major international competition. The group stage ended with Croatia finishing behind then powerful Russians, but in front of the French, led by the famous Jackson Richardson. In the semi-finals, the Swedes were better and Croatia played the third place match and won in a dramatic match against Denmark. Sweden won the tournament demolishing the Russians in the final with 13 points. ^[45] A year later at the 1995 World Championships in Iceland Croatia relatively went easily from group stage to the quarter final where there was brought a rarely seen drama. Tunisia was defeated after penalty shootout. Then the team beat Egypt in the quarter finals and Sweden men's national handball team in the semi-finals. In the final they the French were too big an obstacle for Zovko guys won their first Croatian World Championship silver medal. ^[46] Sweden won the bronze defeating Germany. The next year at the European Championship in 1996 in Spain, Croatia, was led by Abas Arslanagić. Croatia lost took fifth place with victory over the Czech Republic where the match was led by Vladimir Nekić because Arslanagić quit after Croatia failed to enter the semi-finals. The championship was won by Russia. ^[47]

• Bronze medal at European Championship 1994 in Portugal
• Silver medal at World Championship 1995 in Iceland
• Fifth place at European Championship 1996 in Spain

Gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics

On the second Olympics in which Croatian athletes performed under the banner of the Croatian flag and won their first gold medal. This was won by the athletes who were least expected to win it, handball players. They were sent off to Atlanta without hope, because at the European Championship in 1996 they had finished in a weak fifth place, and relations in the national team were bad. Coach Abas Arslanagić quit during the end of the European championship and the national handball selection was filled with confrontation and fights. 38 days before the Olympic Games, the team was taken over by coach Velimir Kljaić, whose statement: "Will go back swimming if we don't win a medal" no one took seriously.

Before the Olympics there were still problems. Preliminary matches didn't offer much optimism. A few days before the start of the handball tournament a friendly encounter with Algeria was not played to the end. The Croatian players left the court because the Algerians went too far with their abusive playing and hurt three players, Goran Perkovac, Slavko Goluža and Nenad Kljaić. ^[48]

The opening match of the Olympic games against Switzerland was tough. A victory was achieved in an already lost match. The Swiss led by as much as 6 goals, but then the goal was kept safe with a superb save from Venio Losert who just during the Olympic Games celebrated his 20th birthday. Making it a minimal victory, scoring in the 55th second before the end of the match, Patrik Ćavar brought a stellar victory.

The next two matches against Kuwait and hosts United States were easy victories. This was followed by the decisive encounter to enter the semi-finals, where there were only the two first-placed teams from each group.

The match with the then current Olympic and European champions Russia had a shocking finale. The Russians were leading by four points, but the Croats were arriving. The last minute was not for the faint of heart, but from the Russian roulette though the Croats came out as winners. One her of this triumph for the semi-finals was Valter Matošević. 40 seconds before the end of the match, when the result was 24:24, he defended a penalty shot from Torgovanov. Another hero was Božidar Jović, who just 3 seconds before the siren rang scored the winning goal. ^[49]

The last match in the group was with the Swedes. This was the one in which yoneou could choose an opponent in the semi-finals, but Kljun omitted Patrik Ćavar, Iztok Puc, Zlatko Saračević and Irfan Smajlagić from the match. Croatia was defeated with nine goals difference, but without their poker aces there wasn't much to expect. The defeat did not have larger significance, except that it took to save face. In the semi-finals they waited for the French who were World Champions. Croatian handball showed the best possible way to respond to defeat in the final of the 1995 World Championship in Iceland. Engaged and disciplined, Croatian players did a great job and ensured the silver medal the same brightness as did the water polo team. ^[50]

In the grand finale again Croatia faced the Swedes. In the semi-finals they defeated Spain, who later won the bronze medal. It was a great generation that only needed an Olympic gold medal to complete their collection. They probably hoped that Croatia was not with those who were missing against Sweden would not much raise the quality that they could be threatened. In the end their plans were foiled, and the Vikings failed to win. After starting 0: 1 followed by a brilliant game from the players Kljaić chose and the series of 6:1. The defense was solid and impenetrable and the attack varied and deadly. Perkovac great led his boys and Božidar Jović was the revelation of the tournament. Worried only in the final Zlatko Saračević was not playing properly, but Kljaić brought the perfect replacement, Zoran Mikulić. Although the Croatians twice led with seven goals difference, the second half offered drama. Swedes switched to defense 4–2 which created big problems. Decreased the difference and 6:30 minutes before the end came at just hit behind. Croatian handball players still in those crucial minutes they had never trembled hands. ^[51]

Thirty seconds before the end of the line player Nenad Kljaić scored a crucial goal for the final 27:26 and brought a glorious victory. With the sound of sirens was created indescribable celebration and parquet Georgia Dome in front of 25,000 visitors in the hall and millions of TV viewers, which is today known caterpillar gold handball. It was the biggest win in the history of Croatian sport. The handball players were not yet aware of this gold they had placed around his neck President of the Croatian Olympic Committee Antun Vrdoljak, who previously predicted 6 Atlanta medal and otherwise announced "As running from the day he was born" at Zagreb's main square. Still not running, but the handball players after returning from Atlanta to thousands of fans being greeted at the airport and on Jelačić Square. And they did the famous caterpillar crawl. ^[52]

A series of poor results (1996–2002)

After winning the Olympic gold medal on 4 August 1996 it was followed by a slow decline in the Croatian national team and the change of generations in which the handball players were far from winning a medal. It started when Croatia was knocked-out in the round of 16 of the World Championships. In Japan in 1997, Croatia was knocked out by Spain 31:25 and was ranked in 13th place. In Egypt 1999 they were knocked-out by Yugoslavia 30:23 leaving Croatia in 10th place. In France 2001 the national team would lose in the next round after two extra time (4 × 5 minutes) stopped Ukraine 37:34 (29: 29/33: 33) finishing in 9th place. At the European Championships in 1998, 2000 and 2002 finished in 8th, 6th and 16th place. Croatia in 2000 hosted the European Championship, they had high expectations from this tournament but they weren't fulfilled. After the defeat from Slovenia in the match for fifth place Croatia took only 6th place and failed to qualify for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. The national team is also lost its ability to defend the gold from Atlanta in Sydney.

First Červar era (2002–2010)

Once the team reached bottom with their results, being ranked last or in 16th place at the 2002 European Championship, in March 2002 the Federation entrusted Lino Červar and with him the team that suffered a seven-year drought medal in two years was created into the world champions and Olympic winners. In the period between these two gold medals Croatia is still ranked 4th place at the European Championships in 2004 in Slovenia. With Červar in charge Croatia would be at the top of the handball world. ^[53]

With the arrival of Lino Červar and a maturing exceptionally talented new generation including a young Ivano Balić, the revival of the national team culminated at the 2003 World Championship. The start of the competition was disastrous. Croatia lost in their first match to Argentina who was at the time a punching for serious national teams in official competitions. Although the first half led with 5 goals, but 14 minutes before the end of the match conceded 6 goals. At the end of the match, Croatian handball players fired five successive attacks, and Mirza Džomba 20 seconds before the end missed the equalizer. How Croatian players badly played that match was proven by the fact they missed 6 penalty shots. During halftime of the second match against another underdog Saudi Arabia Croatia was losing with 2 differences and was playing desperately. Yet the team found strength to win this match. ^[55] The turning point was marvelous – the group's dramatic victories in the end against giants Russia, France and Hungary securing first place to the second part where the Croats were convincing against Egypt and Denmark. In semi-finals the match went into overtime (4 × 5 minutes) defeating the Spaniards 39:37 (26: 26/31: 31) and in the grand final they outscored Germany 34:31 and won their first title of world champions and wrote surely one of the most beautiful story's in the history of Croatian sport. ^[56]

In January 2004 Croatia played at the 2004 European Championship in Slovenia. They got to the semi-finals where they were knocked out by the hosts 25:27. They finished in fourth place losing the third place match to Denmark 27:31.

In Summer 2004 the Olympics were held in Athens. The national team continued its dominating play and were undefeated in all eight matches played. They defeated Iceland, Slovenia, South Korea, Russia, Spain, Greece and Hungary before getting to the final. In a dramatic final Croatia defeated Germany 26–24 and with the title of world champions they won the Olympic gold. In the last 5 minutes of the match went a goal ahead for Croatia, and then Nikša Kaleb who had not scored no goal with 3 consecutive goals sealed a great victory. The gold was an even greater success considering the fact that Croatia traveled to Athens without their best line player Renato Sulić who was recovering from a car accident, without important defense player Tonči Valčić and without Patrik Ćavar who was ill. ^[57]

Overview of achievements at major international competitions

Year	Summer Olympics	World Championship	European Championship
1994
1995
1996			5th
1997		13th
1998			8th
1999		10th
2000	Did not qualify		6th
2001		9th
2002			16th
2003
2004			4th
2005
2006			4th
2007		5th
2008	4th
2009
2010
2011		5th
2012
2013
2014			4th
2015		6th
2016	5th
2017		4th
2018			5th
2019		6th
2020	Did not qualify
2021		15th
2022			8th
2023		9th
2024	9th		11th
2025		TBD

Medal count (major competitions)

Updated after 2023 World Handball Championship

Competition				Total
Olympic Games	2	0	1	3
World Championship	1	3	1	5
European Championship	0	3	3	6
Total	3	6	5	14

 Champions   Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place  

Competitive record (major competitions)

Summer Olympics

Competitive record at the Summer Olympics

Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1992	Did not enter
1996	Final		7	6	0	1	183	168	+15
2000	Did not qualify
2004	Final		8	8	0	0	238	211	+27
2008	Fourth place	4th	8	4	0	4	218	199	+19
2012	Third place		8	7	0	1	230	183	+47
2016	Quarterfinal	5th	6	4	0	2	174	164	+10
2020	Did not qualify
2024	Preliminary round	9th	5	2	0	3	148	156	−8
2028	TBD
2032
Total	Qualified: 6/8		42	31	0	11	1191	1081	+110
Including qualifying rounds			51	39	0	12	1477	1299	+188

Competitive record in qualifying rounds

Year	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Qual
1992	Did not enter							N/A
1996	2nd at the 1995 World Champ							yes
2000	10th at the 1999 World Champ							no
2004	1st at the 2003 World Champ							yes
2008	3	3	0	0	100	72	+28	yes
2012	3	3	0	0	102	65	+37	yes
2016	3	2	0	1	84	71	+13	yes
2020	3	2	0	1	81	81	0	no
2024	TBD
2028
Total	12	10	0	2	367	289	+78	4/6

World Championship

Competitive record at the World Championship

Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1993	Did not enter
1995	Final	2nd	9	7	0	2	246	211	+35
1997	Round of 16	13th	6	2	1	3	148	146	+2
1999	Round of 16	10th	6	3	1	2	141	145	−4
2001	Round of 16	9th	6	3	1	2	188	152	+36
2003	Final	1st	9	8	0	1	270	243	+27
2005	Final	2nd	10	8	0	2	316	273	+43
2007	Quarterfinal	5th	10	9	0	1	308	246	+62
2009	Final	2nd	10	9	0	1	298	228	+70
2011	Main Round	5th	9	6	1	2	271	213	+58
2013	Semi-final	3rd	9	8	0	1	266	202	+64
2015	Quarterfinal	6th	9	7	0	2	258	224	+34
2017	Semi-final	4th	9	6	0	3	254	233	+21
2019	Main Round	6th	9	6	0	3	250	220	+30
2021	Main Round	15th	6	3	1	2	156	122	+4
2023	Main Round	9th	6	4	1	1	207	167	+40
2025	Qualified as co-host
2027	TBD
2029
2031
Total	Qualified: 16/20		123	89	6	28	3577	3065	+512
Including qualifying rounds			127	93	5	29	3681	3151	+520

Competitive record in qualifying rounds

Year	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Qual
1993	Did not enter							N/A
1995	3rd at the 1994 Euro							yes
1997	5th at the 1996 Euro							yes
1999	6	5	0	1	171	152	+19	yes
2001	6th at the 2000 Euro							yes
2003	2	2	0	0	67	50	+17	yes
2005	defending champion							yes
2007	4th at the 2006 Euro							yes
2009	Qualified as host							yes
2011	2nd at the 2010 Euro							yes
2013	3rd at the 2012 Euro							yes
2015	4th at the 2014 Euro							yes
2017	3rd at the 2016 Euro							yes
2019	2	1	0	1	63	51	+12	yes
2021	Top four at the 2020 Euro							yes
2023	2	2	0	0	70	43	+27	yes
2025	Qualified as co-host							yes
2027	TBD
2029
2031
Total	12	105	0	2	371	296	+75	4/4

European Championship

Competitive record at the European Championship

Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1994	Semi-final		7	4	0	3	165	161	+4
1996	Preliminary Round	5th	6	4	0	2	154	150	+4
1998	Preliminary Round	8th	6	2	1	3	145	150	−5
2000	Preliminary Round	6th	6	3	1	2	146	139	+7
2002	Preliminary Round	16th	3	0	0	3	70	89	−19
2004	Semi-final	4th	8	4	2	2	222	221	+1
2006	Semi-final	4th	8	5	0	3	229	228	+1
2008	Final		8	5	1	2	212	203	+9
2010	Final		8	6	1	1	207	194	+13
2012	Semi-final		8	5	1	2	216	201	+15
2014	Semi-final	4th	8	5	0	3	229	206	+23
2016	Semi-final		8	5	0	3	250	219	+31
2018	Fifth place match	5th	7	5	0	2	204	187	+17
2020	Final		9	7	1	1	227	205	+22
2022	Main Round	8th	7	3	1	3	185	181	+4
2024	Main Round	11th	7	3	1	3	216	204	+12
2026	TBD
2028
Total	Qualified: 16/18		114	66	10	38	3077	2938	+139
Including qualifying rounds			170	112	13	45	4697	4242	+455

Competitive record in qualifying rounds

Year	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Qual
1994	8	6	1	1	214	166	+48	yes
1996	6	5	0	1	161	137	+24	yes
1998	6	4	0	2	166	145	+21	yes
2000	Qualified as host							yes
2002	2	2	0	0	71	56	+15	yes
2004	2	1	1	0	62	52	+10	yes
2006	4th at the 2004 Euro							yes
2008	4th at the 2006 Euro							yes
2010	8	7	0	1	252	180	+72	yes
2012	6	6	0	0	168	137	+31	yes
2014	6	5	0	1	161	135	+26	yes
2016	6	5	0	1	191	148	+43	yes
2018	Qualified as host							yes
2020	6	5	1	0	174	148	+26	yes
2022	2nd at the 2020 Euro							yes
2024	TBD
2026
2028
Total	56	46	3	7	1620	1304	+316	10/10

Mediterranean Games

Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1993	Final		Details unknown
1997	Final		5	4	0	1	121	115	+6
2001	Final		5	5	0	0	149	127	+22
2005	Final		4	3	0	1	107	103	+4
2009	Did not participate
2013	Final		6	4	0	2	166	158	+8
2018	Final		5	5	0	0	139	120	+19
2022	Did not participate
2026	TBD
2030
Total	Qualified: 6/8		25	21	0	4	682	623	+59

Current squad

Roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics. A 20-player roster was announced on 23 May 2024. ^[59] The final squad was revealed on 7 July 2024. ^[60]

Head coach: Dagur Sigurðsson ^[61]

No. Pos. Name Date of birth (age) Height App. Goals Club 1 GK Dominik Kuzmanović (2002-08-15)15 August 2002 (aged 21) 1.93 m 21 0 VfL Gummersbach 2 LW Lovro Mihić (1994-08-25) 25 August 1994 (age 30) 1.81 m 62 86 Orlen Wisła Płock 5 CB Domagoj Duvnjak (1988-06-01)1 June 1988 (aged 36) 1.98 m 257 771 THW Kiel 6 RW Mario Šoštarič (1992-11-25)25 November 1992 (aged 31) 1.93 m 20 70 OTP Bank-Pick Szeged 9 RB Luka Lovre Klarica (2001-09-25)25 September 2001 (aged 22) 1.97 m 26 66 RK Zagreb 11 LB Zvonimir Srna (1998-01-18)18 January 1998 (aged 26) 2.02 m 28 61 RK Zagreb 12 GK Matej Mandić (2002-05-02)2 May 2002 (aged 22) 2.06 m 24 0 RK Zagreb 17 LB Josip Šarac (1998-02-24)24 February 1998 (aged 26) 2.00 m 33 40 Frisch Auf Göppingen 33 CB Luka Cindrić (1993-07-05)5 July 1993 (aged 31) 1.82 m 112 321 ONE Veszprém 40 P Nikola Grahovac (1998-12-14)14 December 1998 (aged 25) 2.01 m 15 8 ONE Veszprém 41 LB Tin Lučin (1999-08-16)16 August 1999 (aged 24) 1.97 m 32 82 Nexe Našice 51 RB Ivan Martinović (1998-01-06)6 January 1998 (aged 26) 1.94 m 44 197 Rhein Neckar-Löwen 53 P Marin Šipić (1996-04-29)29 April 1996 (aged 28) 1.90 m 72 135 HC Kriens-Luzern 93 P Veron Načinović (2000-03-07)7 March 2000 (aged 24) 2.04 m 31 69 Montpellier Handball

Coaching staff

As of 29 February 2024

Role	Name
Head coach	Dagur Sigurðsson
Assistant coach	Denis Špoljarić
Goalkeeping coach
Conditioning coaches	Miljenko Rak Danijel Brajković
Physiotherapists	Goran Krušelj Matija Rajnović
Team manager	Ivica Maraš
Sporting director
Technique	Zdravko Mirilović

Head coaches

• Josip Milković (1990–1991)
• Zdravko Zovko (1991–1995)
• Abas Arslanagić (1995–1996)
• Vlado Nekić (1996; Acting)
• Velimir Kljaić (1996)
• Ivan Duvnjak (1996; Acting)
• Damir Čavlović (1996; Acting)
• Josip Glavaš (1997)
• Ilija Puljević (1997–1998)
• Velimir Kljaić (1998–1999)
• Zdravko Zovko (1999–2000)
• Josip Milković (2000–2002)
• Lino Červar (2002–2010)
• Irfan Smajlagić (2003, 2004, and 2005; Acting)
• Slavko Goluža (2010–2015)
• Željko Babić (2015–2017)
• Lino Červar (2017–2021)
• Hrvoje Horvat (2021–2023)
• Goran Perkovac (2023–2024)
• Dagur Sigurðsson (2024–)

Captains

• Alvaro Načinović (1992–1996)
• Goran Perkovac (1996–1998)
• Patrik Ćavar (1998–1999)
• Slavko Goluža (1999–2006)
• Petar Metličić (2006–2009)
• Igor Vori (2009–2015)
• Marko Kopljar (2015–2016)
• Domagoj Duvnjak (2017–present)

Squads

Medal-winning squads

• Gold medal at the 1993 Mediterranean Games: Tonči Peribonio, Mirko Bašić, Goran Perkovac, Alvaro Načinović, Ivica Obrvan, Bruno Gudelj, Iztok Puc, Zlatko Saračević, Ratko Tomljanović, Vlado Šola, Vladimir Jelčić, Patrik Ćavar, Irfan Smajlagić, Nenad Kljaić
  • coach: Zdravko Zovko
• Bronze medal at the 1994 European Championship: Zvonimir Bilić, Patrik Ćavar, Darko Franović, Slavko Goluža, Bruno Gudelj, Vladimir Jelčić, Nenad Kljaić, Valter Matošević, Alvaro Načinović, Ivica Obrvan, Tonči Peribonio, Goran Perkovac, Iztok Puc, Zlatko Saračević, Irfan Smajlagić, Vlado Šola, Ratko Tomljanović
  • coach: Zdravko Zovko
• Silver medal at the 1995 World Championship: Goran Perkovac, Irfan Smajlagić, Alvaro Načinović, Iztok Puc, Zlatko Saračević, Patrik Ćavar, Ratko Tomljanović, Vlado Šola, Valter Matošević, Zvonimir Bilić, Slavko Goluža, Božidar Jović, Venio Losert, Boris Jarak, Tomislav Farkaš, Mirza Šarić
  • coach: Zdravko Zovko
• Gold medal at the 1996 Olympics: Patrik Ćavar, Valner Franković, Slavko Goluža, Bruno Gudelj, Vladimir Jelčić, Božidar Jović, Nenad Kljaić, Venio Losert, Valter Matošević, Zoran Mikulić, Alvaro Načinović, Goran Perkovac, Iztok Puc, Zlatko Saračević, Irfan Smajlagić, Vladimir Šujster
  • coach: Velimir Kljaić
• Gold medal at the 1997 Mediterranean Games: Goran Perkovac, Valter Matošević, Valner Franković, Božidar Jović, Miro Barišić, Mario Bjeliš, Goran Jerković, Mirza Džomba, Enes Halkić, Davor Dominiković, Silvio Ivandija, Igor Kos, Dragan Jerković, Neno Boban, Mario Kelentrić, Mladen Prskalo
  • coach: Velimir Kljaić
• Gold medal at the 2001 Mediterranean Games: Ivano Balić, Tihomir Baltić, Zvonimir Bilić, Davor Dominiković, Mirza Džomba, Slavko Goluža, Božidar Jović, Mario Kelentrić, Igor Kos, Blaženko Lacković, Valter Matošević, Diego Modrušan, Goran Šprem, Renato Sulić, Vedran Zrnić
  • coach: Josip Milković
• Gold medal at the 2003 World Championship: Ivano Balić, Davor Dominiković, Mirza Džomba, Slavko Goluža, Božidar Jović, Nikša Kaleb, Mario Kelentrić, Blaženko Lacković, Valter Matošević, Petar Metličić, Vlado Šola, Denis Špoljarić, Goran Šprem, Renato Sulić, Tonči Valčić, Igor Vori, Vedran Zrnić
  • coach: Lino Červar
• Gold medal at the 2004 Olympics: Ivano Balić, Davor Dominiković, Mirza Džomba, Slavko Goluža, Nikša Kaleb, Blaženko Lacković, Venio Losert, Valter Matošević, Petar Metličić, Vlado Šola, Denis Špoljarić, Goran Šprem, Igor Vori, Drago Vuković, Vedran Zrnić
  • coach: Lino Červar
• Silver medal at the 2005 World Championship: Venio Losert, Nikša Kaleb, Ivano Balić, Blaženko Lacković, Vedran Zrnić, Igor Vori, Davor Dominiković, Mirza Džomba, Vlado Šola, Zoran Jeftić, Slavko Goluža, Nikola Blažičko, Goran Šprem, Denis Špoljarić, Petar Metličić, Denis Buntić
  • coach: Lino Červar
• Silver medal at the 2005 Mediterranean Games: Damir Bičanić, Nikola Blažičko, Denis Buntić, Josip Čale, Ivan Čupić, Zlatko Horvat, Tomislav Huljina, Krešimir Ivanković, Marin Knez, Branimir Koloper, Mario Obad, Vladimir Ostarčević, Ivan Pongračić, Vjenceslav Somić, Ljubo Vukić, Drago Vuković
  • coach: Lino Červar
• Silver medal at the 2008 European Championship: Nikša Kaleb, Renato Sulić, Ivano Balić, Domagoj Duvnjak, Blaženko Lacković, Igor Vori, Davor Dominiković, Vjenceslav Somić, Zlatko Horvat, Drago Vuković, Dragan Jerković, Denis Špoljarić, Petar Metličić, Josip Valčić, Ljubo Vukić, Tonči Valčić, Mirko Alilović, Ivan Čupić
  • coach: Lino Červar
• Silver medal at the 2009 World Championship: Venio Losert, Mateo Hrvatin, Ivano Balić, Domagoj Duvnjak, Blaženko Lacković, Vedran Zrnić, Marko Kopljar, Igor Vori, Jakov Gojun, Zlatko Horvat, Ivan Pešić, Goran Šprem, Denis Špoljarić, Petar Metličić, Denis Buntić, Josip Valčić, Tonči Valčić, Mirko Alilović, Ivan Čupić, Dalibor Anušić, Ivan Ninčević
  • coach: Lino Červar
• Silver medal at the 2010 European Championship: Ivano Balić, Domagoj Duvnjak, Blaženko Lacković, Vedran Zrnić, Marko Kopljar, Igor Vori, Jakov Gojun, Goran Čarapina, Drago Vuković, Vedran Mataija, Damir Bičanić, Denis Buntić, Tonči Valčić, Mirko Alilović, Manuel Štrlek, Ivan Čupić, Željko Musa, Luka Raković.
  • coach: Lino Červar
• Bronze medal at the 2012 European Championship: Ivano Balić, Domagoj Duvnjak, Blaženko Lacković, Marko Kopljar, Igor Vori, Jakov Gojun, Venio Losert, Zlatko Horvat, Drago Vuković, Damir Bičanić, Denis Buntić, Mirko Alilović, Manuel Štrlek, Ivan Čupić, Željko Musa, Ivan Ninčević
  • coach: Slavko Goluža
• Bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics: Venio Losert, Ivano Balić, Domagoj Duvnjak, Blaženko Lacković, Marko Kopljar, Igor Vori, Jakov Gojun, Zlatko Horvat, Drago Vuković, Damir Bičanić, Denis Buntić, Mirko Alilović, Manuel Štrlek, Ivan Čupić, Ivan Ninčević
  • coach: Slavko Goluža
• Bronze medal at the 2013 World Championship: Mirko Alilović, Filip Ivić, Ivan Čupić, Zlatko Horvat, Manuel Štrlek, Lovro Šprem, Marko Kopljar, Luka Stepančić, Domagoj Duvnjak, Jakov Gojun, Damir Bičanić, Drago Vuković, Stipe Mandalinić, Blaženko Lacković, Igor Vori, Marino Marić, Ivan Ninčević
  • coach: Slavko Goluža
• Silver medal at the 2013 Mediterranean Games: Ivan Pešić, Ivan Stevanović, Hrvoje Batinović, Lovro Šprem, Jerko Matulić, Nik Dominik Tominec, Marino Marić, Filip Gavranović, Ivan Slišković, Stefan Vujić, Marko Matic, Luka Stepančić, Robert Markotić, Igor Karačić, Damir Batinović, Josip Vidović
  • coach: Slavko Goluža
• Bronze medal at the 2016 European Championship:Ivan Stevanović, Marino Marić, Domagoj Duvnjak, Marko Kopljar, Jakov Gojun, Zlatko Horvat, Igor Karačić, Krešimir Kozina, Mirko Alilović, Manuel Štrlek, Ivan Čupić, Antonio Kovačević, Marko Mamić, Luka Šebetić, Ivan Slišković, Luka Cindrić, Ilija Brozović
  • coach: Željko Babić
• Silver medal at the 2020 European Championship: Marino Marić, Domagoj Duvnjak, Matej Hrstić, Luka Stepančić, Zlatko Horvat, Josip Šarac, Igor Karačić, Željko Musa, Marko Mamić, Luka Cindrić, Ilija Brozović, Vlado Matanović, David Mandić, Valentino Ravnić, Marin Šipić, Marin Šego, Matej Ašanin
  • coach: Lino Červar

Notable players

• Alvaro Načinović
  • Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport: 1996
• Irfan Smajlagić
  • part of the all-star team of the 1995 World Championship as the best right wing
  • Best Croatian handballer of 1995 by CHF & SN
  • part of the all-star team of the 1996 Olympic tournament as the best right wing
  • Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport: 1996 and 2004
• Patrik Ćavar
  • Best Croatian handballer of 1994, 1997 and 2000 by CHF & SN
  • top scorer and part of the all-star team of the 1996 Olympic tournament as the best left wing
  • Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport: 1996
  • Best % of goals scored for the national team – 5.33
  • 2nd top goalscorer of the national team – 639 goals
• Ivano Balić
  • IHF World Player of the Year 2003 and 2006
  • Croatian Sportsman of the Year: 2007
  • MVP and part of the all-star team of the 2004 European Championship as the best centre back
  • part of the all-star team of the 2004 Olympic tournament as the best centre back
  • MVP and part of the all-star team of the 2005 World Championship as the best centre back
  • MVP and part of the all-star team of the 2006 European Championship as the best centre back
  • MVP of the 2007 World Championship
  • top scorer and part of the all-star team of the 2008 European Championship as the best centre back
• Mirza Džomba
  • part of the all-star team of the 2003 World Championship as the best right wing
  • MVP and top scorer of the 2004 European Championship
  • part of the all-star team of the 2004 Olympic tournament as the best right wing
  • Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport: 2004
  • part of the all-star team of the 2005 World Championship as the best right wing
  • Best Croatian handballer of 2005 by CHF & SN
  • Best right wing in the history by EHF
  • All-time goalscorer of the national team – 719 goals
• Valter Matošević
  • 2nd best goalkeeper at 1995 World Championship
  • Best Croatian handballer of 1995 by CHF & SN
  • Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport: 1996 and 2004
  • Record in the national team for the number of saves in one match – 24
• Slavko Goluža
  • Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport: 1996, 2004 and 2009
  • Best Croatian handball player by CHF & Sportske novosti: 2001
  • Trophy MOO for sports and promoting optimism: 2007

• Igor Vori
  • best defence player of the 2008 European Championship
  • MVP and part of the all-star team of the 2009 World Championship as the best pivot
  • part of the all-star team of the 2010 European Championship as the best pivot
• Ivan Čupić
  • part of the all-star team of the 2009 World Championship as the best right wing
  • part of the all-star team of the 2012 Olympic tournament as the best right wing
• Blaženko Lacković
  • part of the all-star team of the 2009 World Championship as the best left back
• Jakov Gojun
  • best defence player of the 2010 European Championship
• Manuel Štrlek
  • part of the all-star team of the 2010 European Championship as the best left wing
  • part of the all-star team of the 2016 European Championship as the best left wing
• Vedran Zrnić
  • part of the all-star team of the 2011 World Championship as the best right wing
• Marko Kopljar
  • part of the all-star team of the 2012 European Championship as the best right back
• Domagoj Duvnjak
  • IHF World Player of the Year 2013
  • part of the all-star team of the 2013 World Championship as the best playmaker
  • part of the all-star team of the 2014 European Championship as the best centre back
  • part of the all-star team of the 2017 World Championship as the best centre back
  • MVP of the 2020 European Championship
• Venio Losert
  • Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport: 1996 and 2004
  • 3rd best goalkeeper at 2004 Summer Olympics
• Davor Dominiković
  • Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport: 2004
• Iztok Puc
  • Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport: 1996

Statistics

Biggest wins

Double digit goal difference

Biggest losses

Senior squad

• Sportske novosti awards team of the year: 1995, 1996, 2003, 2004 and 2009
• Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport: 1996 and 2004
• Selection of the most successful athletes by COC male team: 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2009
• Selection of the most successful athletes by COC for promoting Croatia: 2003, 2004 and 2012
• Ivica Jobo Kurtini Award – 2004

U-19 squad

• Dražen Petrović Award: 2007 and 2009