TheCroatia national handball team (Croatian:Hrvatska rukometna reprezentacija) representsCroatia at internationalhandball competitions and is governed by theCroatian Handball Federation (HRS). The team is one of the most successful nations in the history of handball, having won the gold medal at theOlympic Games twice and oneWorld Championship title, and played in the final of theEuropean Championship three times.[1][2] The Croatian national team's victory at the1996 Olympics is often credited as one of the biggest upsets in the history of handball.[3] The Croatian national team have also won a so-called "international double", winning the gold medal at the World Championship (2003) and the Olympics (2004).
History of handball in Croatia and Yugoslavia (1904–1991)
The wordhandball in the Croatian region was first used byFranjo Bučar in 1904 to describe the German gameSchleuderball in the journalSokol. The earliest documented forms of playing handball in these areas appear in 1911 at the gymnasium ofPazin, which is, among other things, due to the programs for education inIstria, as part of the then-Austrian coast, coming from the education center inGraz. At the time, handball was included in high school programs closing ceremony inCroatia. The type of handball was a form ofCzech handball and was adopted by theOsijek andVukovar students fromPrague.[4]
In the early beginnings of Croatian handball, venues played bothfield handball andhandball. Students were mostly attracted to field handball as it was played on existing football fields, while handball was played on makeshift courts.[5] During theKingdom of Yugoslavia, the first public handball match in the Croatian region and the wider neighborhood was played at a high school inVaraždin on 29 May 1930 under the guidance of physical education teacher Zvonimir Šuligoj. Since that game and until 1950, field handball was played exclusively in public inCroatia andYugoslavia on football fields with eleven players on each side. The first handball courts inYugoslavia was opened at a high school in Zagreb on 1 June 1935.[6]
The establishment of Croatian Handball Federation and the first Croatian national team (1941–1945)
At the beginning ofWorld War II, theKingdom of Yugoslavia disintegrated. Most of the territory inhabited byCroats became part of the newly formedIndependent State of Croatia (NDH) on 10 April 1941. As part of the new state, theCroatian Handball Federation (HRS) was established for the first time in history on 2 October 1941 inZagreb.[7] 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. The first Croatian handball team was established shortly after the formation of the NDH, with the first practice-match training held on 12 October 1941 under the guidance of head coach Dragutin Pehe. The team's first and only international match was played on 14 June 1942 againstHungary inBudapest, where they lost 0:9. The field handball match was played in front of 30,000 spectators at the then-NEP Stadium (since 2002Ferenc Puskás Stadium) and was a prelude to the meeting of the Croatian and Hungarian football teams.[8] 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, goalkeeper Branko Kraljand, who was considered the best Croatian player on the field, and reserve goalkeeper Zdenko Šurina. HRS stopped functioning in 1944 due to the world war.[9]
Following the end ofWorld War II in 1945, the territory of theIndependent State of Croatia was included in the newly establishedSFR Yugoslavia and work immediately began on rebuilding thehandball sport in Yugoslavia. That same year, the Committee for handball Gymnastics Association Croatian was founded, while the Committee for handball Gymnastics Association of Yugoslavia was established in May 1948.HRS was restored on 19 December 1948, in which, in accordance with the national policy of the new Yugoslav state, the name was changed to the Croatian Handball Association (RSH).Handball Federation of Yugoslavia (RSJ) was established on 17 December 1949 inBelgrade by pooling national and provincial associations, and it became a member of theInternational Handball Federation (IHF) in 1950.[10]
Since the end of World War II and until the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, the bestCroatian handball players infield andteam handball were selected to play for the national team of Yugoslavia. As part of the national team, Croatian players competed at 17 major competitions and won seven medals, including twoOlympic gold medals and oneWorld Championship gold medal. During this period, the team also won five gold medals in five appearances at theMediterranean 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, two bronze medals at the handball Super League held in 1981 and 1983 in Germany, and a silver medal at the 1990Goodwill Games inSeattle.
At theWorld Junior Championship in 1987 inRijeka, a nucleus generation of players that would define the 1990s for the Croatian national team came to light.Alvaro Načinović,Iztok Puc,Vladimir Jelčić and others were instrumental in helping Yugoslavia win the championship, and their talent and knowledge were later incorporated as seniors in the Croatian national team's first success after independence of the country.[12]
Taking fourth place at the1990 World Championship inCzechoslovakia theYugoslav national team was placed among the nine best teams of the tournament, which acquired them the right to participate in the upcoming1992 Olympic Games inBarcelona. Because of thewar 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 theCroatian Olympic Committee (COC) was provisionally recognized on 17 January 1992 by theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC), and sinceCroatia had already on 22 May 1992 become a member of theUnited Nations, Croatian handball players had conditions to perform at theOlympic Games in 1992.[44] This unfortunately did not happen. Although Croatia in terms of game was handball superpower, it was decided that Yugoslavia would be replaced byIceland at the games as they finished tenth at the1990 World Championship.[45] Adverse effects of certain officials in theIOC prevented even the option of maintaining an additional qualifying tournament like the one held for theCroatian basketball players. Croatia also missed the1993 World Championship inSweden, 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 theMediterranean Games in 1993 inLanguedoc-Roussillon,France, Croatia won gold. At the first everEuropean Championship in 1994 held inPortugal the team was led byZdravko Zovko they won their first medal at this first major international competition. The group stage ended with Croatia finishing behind then powerfulRussians, but in front of the French, led by the famousJackson Richardson. In the semi-finals, theSwedes were better and Croatia played the third place match and won in a dramatic match againstDenmark.Sweden won the tournament demolishing theRussians in the final with 13 points.[46] A year later at the1995 World Championships inIceland 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 beatEgypt in the quarter finals andSweden men's national handball team in the semi-finals. In the final they theFrench were too big an obstacle forZovko guys won their first Croatian World Championship silver medal.[47] Sweden won the bronze defeating Germany. The next year at theEuropean Championship in 1996 inSpain, Croatia, was led byAbas Arslanagić. Croatia lost took fifth place with victory over theCzech Republic where the match was led byVladimir Nekić because Arslanagić quit after Croatia failed to enter the semi-finals. The championship was won byRussia.[48]
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 toAtlanta without hope, because at theEuropean Championship in 1996 they had finished in a weak fifth place, and relations in the national team were bad. CoachAbas Arslanagić quit during the end of the European championship and the national handball selection was filled with confrontation and fights. 38 days before theOlympic Games, the team was taken over by coachVelimir 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 thehandball tournament a friendly encounter withAlgeria 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 andNenad Kljaić.[49]
The opening match of theOlympic games againstSwitzerland 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 fromVenio 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 againstKuwait and hostsUnited 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 championsRussia 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 theRussian roulette though the Croats came out as winners. One her of this triumph for the semi-finals wasValter Matošević. 40 seconds before the end of the match, when the result was 24:24, he defended a penalty shot fromTorgovanov. Another hero wasBožidar Jović, who just 3 seconds before the siren rang scored the winning goal.[50]
The last match in the group was with theSwedes. This was the one in which yoneou could choose an opponent in the semi-finals, butKljun omittedPatrik Ćavar,Iztok Puc,Zlatko Saračević andIrfan 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 the1995 World Championship inIceland. Engaged and disciplined, Croatian players did a great job and ensured the silver medal the same brightness as did thewater polo team.[51]
In the grand finale again Croatia faced theSwedes. In the semi-finals they defeatedSpain, 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 theVikings 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 andBožidar Jović was the revelation of the tournament. Worried only in the finalZlatko 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.[52]
Thirty seconds before the end of the line playerNenad 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 parquetGeorgia 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 theCroatian Olympic CommitteeAntun Vrdoljak, who previously predicted 6 Atlanta medal and otherwise announced "As running from the day he was born" atZagreb's main square. Still not running, but the handball players after returning fromAtlanta to thousands of fans being greeted at the airport and onJelačić Square. And they did the famous caterpillar crawl.[53]
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 theWorld Championships. InJapan in1997, Croatia was knocked out bySpain 31:25 and was ranked in 13th place. InEgypt1999 they were knocked-out byYugoslavia 30:23 leaving Croatia in 10th place. InFrance2001 the national team would lose in the next round after two extra time (4 × 5 minutes) stoppedUkraine 37:34 (29: 29/33: 33) finishing in 9th place. At theEuropean Championships in1998,2000 and2002 finished in 8th, 6th and 16th place. Croatia in 2000 hosted theEuropean Championship, they had high expectations from this tournament but they weren't fulfilled. After the defeat fromSlovenia in the match for fifth place Croatia took only 6th place and failed to qualify for the2000 Olympic Games inSydney. The national team is also lost its ability to defend the gold fromAtlanta inSydney.
Once the team reached bottom with their results, being ranked last or in 16th place at the2002 European Championship, in March 2002 theFederation entrustedLino 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 theEuropean Championships in2004 inSlovenia. With Červar in charge Croatia would be at the top of the handball world.[54]
With the arrival ofLino Červar and a maturing exceptionally talented new generation including a youngIvano Balić, the revival of the national team culminated at the2003 World Championship. The start of the competition was disastrous. Croatia lost in their first match toArgentina 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, andMirza 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 underdogSaudi Arabia Croatia was losing with 2 differences and was playing desperately. Yet the team found strength to win this match.[56] The turning point was marvelous – the group's dramatic victories in the end against giantsRussia,France andHungary securing first place to the second part where the Croats were convincing againstEgypt andDenmark. In semi-finals the match went into overtime (4 × 5 minutes) defeating theSpaniards 39:37 (26: 26/31: 31) and in the grand final they outscoredGermany 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.[57]
In January 2004 Croatia played at the2004 European Championship inSlovenia. 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 toDenmark 27:31.
In Summer 2004 theOlympics were held inAthens. The national team continued its dominating play and were undefeated in all eight matches played. They defeatedIceland,Slovenia,South Korea,Russia,Spain,Greece andHungary before getting to the final. In a dramatic final Croatia defeatedGermany 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 thenNikša 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 toAthens without their best line playerRenato Sulić who was recovering from a car accident, without important defense playerTonči Valčić and withoutPatrik Ćavar who was ill.[58]
Croatia has developed several handball rivalries. Their most played rivalry is against France called "El Clasico", which is often considered to be one of the biggest modern handball rivalries since the end of theCold War. Croatia has played 3 finals against France (1995,2009,2010) losing all 3 and 7 semifinals winning 4 (1996,2005,2008,2025) and losing 3 (2006,2008,2012). Their other rivalries include Spain, Denmark and neighbors Slovenia and Serbia.
Players that played forCroatian National Handball Team after the breakup ofYugoslavia and collected 100+ caps combined forYugoslavian andCroatian National Handball Teams.
1st (1996,2004)
1st (2003)
2nd (2008,2010,2020)
Bronze medal atEuropean Championship 1994 inPortugal
Silver medal atWorld Championship 1995 inIceland
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
1993
1995
1999
2003
2005
2007
2009
2015
2025
1998
2004
2006
2010
2012
2022
2013
2022
2030
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