Croatia–Serbia football rivalry

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Croatia–Serbia football rivalry
Croatia WC2018 final.jpg Ser-Swi (7).jpg
Croatia (above) and Serbia (below) national teams lining up at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
LocaleEurope (UEFA)
Teams Croatia
 Serbia
First meeting8 September 1945
1945 Yugoslav Football Tournament
FS Serbia 3–1 FS Croatia
Latest meeting6 September 2013
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
Serbia 1–1 Croatia
Statistics
Meetings total5
Most winsCroatia (1)
Serbia (1)
Top scorerCroatia Mario Mandžukić (2)
Socialist Republic of Serbia Rajko Mitić (2)
Largest victory8 September 1945
1945 Yugoslav Football Tournament
FS Serbia 3–1 FS Croatia
22 March 2013
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
Croatia 2–0 Serbia
Largest goal scoring9 October 1999
UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
Croatia 2–2 FR Yugoslavia

The Croatia–Serbia football rivalry is a competitive sports rivalry that exists between the national football teams of the two countries and their respective sets of fans.

The rivalry has been considered to be one of the most hostile in world football, despite the two national teams not having met often. Tensions between the nations are fueled by political differences which arose during the 20th century based on the events of World War II and the breakup of Yugoslavia. The two rivals had previously represented the Yugoslavia national football team, and contributed the bulk of the teams footballers during almost 70 years of its existence.[1][2][3][4]

History[]

Early beginnings[]

The two national teams first encounter occurred in the semi-final of the one-off 1945 Yugoslav Football Tournament. The home championship/victory international style competition was played amongst 6 federal republics, 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 without incident 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 recognised by FIFA as full internationals 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 just weeks after Croatia's first election, in the middle of ethnic tensions in Yugoslavia. The game was rupted after only ten minutes, as Dinamo's ultras Bad Blue Boys and Red Star's ultras Delije started the infamous riot. The incident remained remembered for Zvonimir Boban kicking a Militia officer, after seeing him beating a Dinamo ultra. Subsequently, 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 friendly match between Yugoslavia and the Netherlands took place at Stadion Maksimir and was the last friendly before the 1990 FIFA World Cup. The crowd of 20,000 booed the Yugoslav national anthem "Hey, Slavs".[8] Fans cheered for the Netherlands, heckling the Yugoslav team and their manager Ivica Osim.[9] Many Dutch flags were also seen in the crowd, owing to their similarity to the Croatian tricolour.[10] The match was the last Yugoslavia match to be played at the stadium.[11] On 17 October of that same year, Croatia played its first international match of the modern era at the stadium against the United States.

Euro 2000 qualifying[]

The first official international encounter after 54 years between Croatia and Serbia (the latter playing as FR Yugoslavia), occurred on 18 August 1999 at the Red Star Stadium in Belgrade, as part of UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying. The match ended as a goalless draw. The match remained memorable for power outage at the stadium that allegedly intimidated the Croatian players.[12] The return game at Stadion Maksimir in Zagreb was played on 9 October 1999 and it was a decisive match for Croatia, as they needed a victory to qualify for the tournament. Ten minutes into the game, Aljoša Asanović passed the ball to Davor Šuker who took a shot, but Ivica Kralj rebounded it. Even though the ball was over the goal line, Spanish referee José María García-Aranda ruled the goal out. In 20th minute, Alen Bokšić opened the scoreline. However, Yugoslavia came from behind with goals by Predrag Mijatović and Dejan Stanković in 26th and 31st respective minute. In a duel between Zoran Mirković and Robert Jarni, the former grabbed the latter by the genitalia and received a straight red card. The incident motivated Croatia even more resulting in Mario Stanić's equalizer in 47th minute. The third goal that would've taken Croatia to the tournament never came, as Josip Šimić who was substituted for Bokšić wasted the best chance the team had.[13] The elimination saw Croatia enter a phrase of crisis that lasted for eight years.

2014 World Cup qualification[]

Croatia and now independent Serbia met again 14 years later in 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 brutally tackled Miralem Sulejmani as the latter was running all by himself towards the Croatia's goal. As a result, he received a straight 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 not qualifying for the tournament.

Euro 2020[]

On 30 November 2019, a draw for UEFA Euro 2020 placed Croatia in the same group as the winner of the qualifying play-offs Path C. Having topped their group in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League C and failing to qualify through regular qualifiers, Serbia secured their spot in the play-offs.[17] They defeated Norway 2–1 after extra time in the play-off semi-final,[18] but eventually lost the final to Scotland after a penalty shoot-out that saw Scotland win 5–4.[19] At the tournament, it was beating Scotland 3–1 that qualified Croatia for the Round of 16.[20]

Matches[]

FS Serbia3–1 FS Croatia
Mitić Goal
Jezerkić Goal 71'
Mitić Goal 90'
Report Reiss Goal
Attendance: 12,000
Referee: Unknown (Yugoslavia)
FR Yugoslavia 0–0 Croatia
Report
Attendance: 48,282
Referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark)
Serbia 1–1 Croatia
Mitrović Goal 66' Report Mandžukić Goal 53'
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

Statistics[]

Competition Croatia wins Draws Serbia wins
Total 1 3 1

Top scorers[]

Comparison in major international tournaments[]

Key

  Denotes which team finished better in that particular competition.

Tournament  Croatia  FR Yugoslavia Notes
Sweden UEFA Euro 1992 Not a FIFA member Suspended Yugoslavia was banned from international sports tournaments as part of United Nations Security Council Resolution 757.
United States 1994 FIFA World Cup
England UEFA Euro 1996 7th
France 1998 FIFA World Cup 3rd 10th
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 2018–19 UEFA Nations League 9th 27th
Italy 2020–21 UEFA Nations League 12th 27th
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.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ The Daily Telegraph
  2. ^ Fenton-Thomas, Alex (2013-03-22). "Croatia v Serbia: the sporting rivalry - in pictures". The Guardian. 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". www.rsssf.com. 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?
  10. ^ In the bus
  11. ^ Yugoslavia National Team List of Results 1990-1999 Archived 19 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, RSSSF
  12. ^ Jump up to: 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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