Croatia–Serbia football rivalry

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

Croatia–Serbia football rivalry
Nogometno suparništvo između Hrvatske i Srbije (in Croatian)
Фудбалско ривалство између Хрватске и Србије (in Serbian)
Location of Croatia (green) and Serbia (orange)
LocaleEurope (UEFA)
Teams Croatia
 Serbia
First meeting18 August 1999
UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
Yugoslavia 0–0 Croatia
Latest meeting6 September 2013
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
Serbia 1–1 Croatia
Statistics
Meetings total4
Most wins Croatia (1)
Top scorer Mario Mandžukić (2)
Largest victory22 March 2013
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
Croatia 2–0 Serbia
Largest goal scoring9 October 1999
UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
Croatia 2–2 Yugoslavia

While the two national teams have not met often, the rivalry is described by The Daily Telegraph as one of the most heated up rivalries in the world because of tensions between the countries that arose through the breakup of Yugoslavia and the subsequently often bad Croatia–Serbia relations.[1]

History
See also: Croatia–Serbia relations § Rivalry in football

Early beginnings

On 13 May 1990, Dinamo Zagreb hosted Red Star Belgrade at the Maksimir Stadium in Yugoslav First League. It was just 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 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 Yugoslavian FA and expelled from Yugoslavia squad for 1990 FIFA World Cup.[2]

On 3 June 1990, a friendly match between Yugoslavia and the Netherlands took place at the Maksimir Stadium and was the last friendly before the 1990 FIFA World Cup. The crowd of 20,000 booed the Yugoslav national anthem "Hey, Slavs".[3] Fans cheered for the Netherlands, heckling the Yugoslav team and their manager Ivica Osim.[4] Many Dutch flags were also seen in the crowd, owing to their similarity to the Croatian tricolour.[5] The match was the last Yugoslavia match to be played at the stadium.[6] On 17 October of that same year Croatia played its first international match at the stadium against the United States.

Euro 2000 qualifying

The first meeting between Croatia and Serbia, the latter playing as FR Yugoslavia, happened 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.[7] The return game at the Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb was played on 9 October 1999 and it was a deciding match for Croatia, as they needed a victory to qualify for the tournament. Ten minutes into the game, Aljoša Asanović passes the ball to Davor Šuker who shoots, but Ivica Kralj rebounds the shot. 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 came on for Bokšić wasted the best chance the team had.[8] It was this elimination that saw Croatia entered 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 the Maksimir Stadium and ended up as a 2–0 victory for Croatia following goals by Mario Mandžukić and Ivica Olić.[9] 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.[7] In 80th minute, Josip Šimunić brutally tackled Miralem Sulejmani as the latter was running all by himself towards the Croatia goal. As a result he received a straight red card.[10][11] 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.[12]

Matches
UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying Group 8
Yugoslavia 0–0 Croatia
Report
Attendance: 48,282
Referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark)

Comparison in major international tournaments
Key

     Denotes which team finished better in that particular competition.

Tournament  Croatia  FR Yugoslavia Notes
UEFA Euro 1992 Suspended Suspended Croatia and Yugoslavia were banned from international sports tournaments as part of United Nations Security Council Resolution 757.
1994 FIFA World Cup
UEFA Euro 1996 7th
1998 FIFA World Cup 3rd 10th
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.
2002 FIFA World Cup 23rd Did not qualify
UEFA Euro 2004 13th  Serbia and Montenegro
Did not qualify
2006 FIFA World Cup 22nd 32nd
UEFA Euro 2008 5th  Serbia
Did not qualify
2010 FIFA World Cup Did not qualify 23rd
UEFA Euro 2012 10th Did not qualify
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.
UEFA Euro 2016 9th
2018 FIFA World Cup 2nd 23rd
2018–19 UEFA Nations League 9th 27th
2020–21 UEFA Nations League 1st–16th 17th–32nd Having been placed in League A, Croatia cannot finish lower than 16th. Serbia, however, cannot finish higher than 17th or lower than 32nd, having been placed in League B.
UEFA Euro 2020 To be determined If Serbia qualify through the Path C play-offs, they will be placed in the same group as Croatia, following a draw on 30 November 2019.
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See also

References
  1. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/0/20-fiercest-international-football-rivalries/croatia-v-serbia/
  2. Gault, Matt (28 September 2015). "ZVONIMIR BOBAN AND THE KICK THAT STARTED A WAR". These Football Times.
  3. Football Archived 4 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Remember the last time we hosted the Netherlands?
  5. In the bus
  6. Yugoslavia National Team List of Results 1990-1999 Archived 19 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, RSSSF
  7. "PRELISTAVALI SMO ISTORIJU: Orlovi su na OVO dugo čekali protiv Hrvatske! (VIDEO)". Srbija Danas (in Serbian). 30 November 2019.
  8. 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).
  9. "Croatia vs. Serbia - Football Match Stats - March 22, 2013 - ESPN". ESPN.com. 22 March 2013.
  10. ""Crazy Joe" zgrozio Srbe: "Ovo je najgori start na Marakani ikada!"". Index.hr (in Croatian). 7 September 2013.
  11. "Serbia vs. Croatia - Football Match Summary - September 6, 2013 - ESPN - ESPN.com". ESPN.com. 6 September 2013.
  12. Trifunović, Boris (30 November 2019). "Vatreni s Engleskom otvaraju Euro! Srbi mogu u našu grupu". 24sata (in Croatian).
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