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The Republic of Croatia's national football team is controlled by the country's
official governing body, the Croatian Football Federation (Hrvatski Nogometni
Savez or HNS). Between 1940 and 1944, the team represented the then Banovina of
Croatia and Independent State of Croatia in 19 friendly games.
While the Croatian national football team followed FIFA rules and
regulations, Croatia fell under the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia at that time
which meant international games were played under a single unified Yugoslavian
team.
The modern Croatian national football team was formed in 1990, not long before
Croatia gained its independence from Yugoslavia. In 1993 the team was accepted
as a fully-fledged member of the of FIFA as well as UEFA (Union of European
Football).
In 1998 the Croatian national squad played in its first FIFA World Cup, and
surprisingly finished in third place. The team also earned the distinction of
being the World Cup's highest goal scorers that year which elevated its FIFA
ranking from 125th to 3rd. Since then, Croatia has qualified for every World
Cup.
In 1994 and 1998 Croatia earned the honor of being named FIFA's 'Best Mover of
the Year' - the only team in the world to have been awarded this distinction
twice. In both the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, the Croatian national football team
made it to the first round.
Over the years the team has produced some top-notch players including Davor
Šuker, Darijo Srna, Goran Vlaović, Eduardo da Silva, Zvonimir Boban, Robert
Prosinečki and Boško Balaban.
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