Croatia women
Nickname(s)Lavice (The Lionesses)
AssociationCroatian Football Federation (HNS)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachNenad Gračan
CaptainDoris Bačić
Most capsIva Landeka (102)
Top scorerMaja Joščak (20)
FIFA codeCRO
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 58 Increase 2 (15 December 2023)[1]
Highest44 (July 2003 – June 2005)
Lowest65 (November 2010; July 2011)
First international
 Slovenia 3–2 Croatia 
(Ižakovci, Slovenia; 28 October 1993)
Biggest win
 Croatia 8–2 Slovenia 
(Kecskemét, Hungary; 27 May 2001)
Biggest defeat
 Romania 10–0 Croatia 
(Bucharest, Romania; 2 October 2004)
Websitehns-cff.hr

The Croatia women's national football team represents Croatia in international women's football matches. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Croatia. It is a member of UEFA in Europe and FIFA in global competitions. The team's colours reference two national symbols: the Croatian checkerboard and the country's tricolour. They are colloquially referred to as the Lavice ('Lionesses'). So far, the Lavice hadn't qualified for any major tournament.

History

After winning independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, the newly established Croatian Football Federation immediately moved toward creating separate national football teams to represent the country, which included the establishment of the women's team. Three years after the men's team debut, the women's team of Croatia officially marked their international debut, playing against neighbouring Slovenia in a friendly on 28 October 1993, where Croatia lost 2–3 away.

Since its inception, the women's team of Croatia has suffered from the lack of coverage from the increasingly successful men's side. Most of Croatia's female footballers, unlike the male ones, are made up of only amateur or part-timers, and thus they are not adequately trained. As for the result, while the men's team has been largely competitive and qualified for several UEFA European Championship and FIFA World Cup, the women's team is unable to repeat the same as the men's one, and has a tendency of being finished near bottom or bottom of the qualifications for UEFA Women's Championship and FIFA Women's World Cup.

Team image

Nicknames

The Croatia women's national football team has been known or nicknamed as the "Lavice".

Rivalry

Like the men's counterparts, the Croatian women's team also maintained a rivalry with its neighbour Serbia. However, unlike the men's, the women's team of Croatia, long suffered from lack of investment, could not demonstrate its domination against its Serbian arch-rival.

Recent results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Legend

  Win   Draw   Lose   Fixture

2023

16 February 2023 Cyprus Women's Cup Croatia  1–4  Finland Larnaca, Cyprus
  • Nevrkla 8'
Stadium: GSZ Stadium
Referee: Marta Huerta de Aza (Spain)
7 April Friendly Greece  1–1  Croatia Athens, Greece
12:00
Report
Stadium: Georgios Kamaras Stadium
Referee: Lotta Vuorio (Finland)
10 April Friendly Greece  2–1  Croatia Athens, Greece
11:00 UTC+3
Report 42' Stadium: Georgios Kamaras Stadium
22 September Nations League B Gr 2 Croatia  2–1  Romania Varaždin, Croatia
20:15
Report
Stadium: Stadion Varteks
Referee: Maria Marotta (Italy)
Assistant referees:
  • Veronica Vettorel (Italy)
  • Giulia Tempestilli (Italy)

Fourth official: Deborah Bianchi (Italy)
26 September Nations League B Gr 2 Slovakia  4–0  Croatia Senec, Slovakia
18:00
Report
  • Krajinović Yellow card 78'
 Stadium: NTC Senec
Referee: Alexandra Collin (France)
Assistant referees:

Fourth official: Emeline Rochebiliere (Italy)
27 October 2023–24 UEFA Nations League Finland  3–0  Croatia Helsinki
17:45
Report Stadium: Bolt Arena,
Referee: Désirée Grundbacher (Switzerland)
31 October 2023–24 UEFA Nations League Croatia  0–2  Finland Šibenik
18:00 Report
Stadium: Stadion Šubićevac,
Referee: Teresa Oliveira (Portugal)
1 December 2023 (2023-12-01) 2023–24 UEFA Nations League Croatia  2–0  Slovakia Velika Gorica
18:00
  • Krajinović 53'
  • Dordić 60'
 Report Stadium: Stadion Radnik
Attendance: 347
Referee: Hristiyana Guteva (Bulgaria)
5 December 2023 (2023-12-05) 2023–24 UEFA Nations League Romania  0–1  Croatia Bucharest
19:00 (20:00 EET) Report Stadium: Stadionul Arcul de Triumf
Referee: Rasa Grigonė (Lithuania)

Coaching staff

Position Staff
Head Coach Croatia Nenad Gračan
Assistant Coach Croatia Jure Perković
Assistant Coach Croatia Nenad Glušica
Assistant Coach Croatia Helena Hercigonja-Moulton
Goalkeeping Coach Croatia Blaž Bugarin

Source:

Players


Current squad

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Doris Bačić (1995-02-23) 23 February 1995 77 0 Italy Napoli
12 1GK Ana Filipović (2003-07-04) 4 July 2003 0 0 Croatia Dinamo Zagreb
23 1GK Laura Fiket (2002-06-05) 5 June 2002 0 0 Croatia Split
2 2DF Ružica Krajinović (2002-05-10) 10 May 2002 7 0 Austria Sturm
4 2DF Leonarda Balog (1993-02-05) 5 February 1993 65 1 Austria St. Pölten
5 2DF Kristina Nevrkla (2003-06-17) 17 June 2003 88 4 Croatia Osijek
13 2DF Tea Varćević (2006-04-25) 25 April 2006
15 2DF Maria Kunštek (1998-11-06) 6 November 1998 28 0 Croatia Osijek
21 2DF Barbara Živković (2005-02-15) 15 February 2005 Croatia Osijek
3 3MF Ana Jelenčić (1994-06-08) 8 June 1994 47 1 Switzerland Servette
6 3MF Tea Krznarić (2004-08-09) 9 August 2004 14 0 Austria LASK
7 3MF Petra Pezelj (1998-10-28) 28 October 1998 41 2 Turkey Trabzonspor
8 3MF Ella Ljuština (2002-05-10) 10 May 2002 11 1 Switzerland Zürich
10 3MF Anela Lubina (1995-12-18) 18 December 1995 43 2 Croatia Osijek
14 3MF Antonia Dulčić (1997-02-04) 4 February 1997 24 0 Turkey ALG Spor
18 3MF Antea Batarilo (2005-10-02) 2 October 2005
22 3MF Izabela Lojna (1992-05-11) 11 May 1992 81 12 Croatia Osijek
9 4FW Ivana Rudelić (1992-01-25) 25 January 1992 44 17 Switzerland Basel
11 4FW Jelena Đorđić (2002-01-27) 27 January 2002 Austria First Vienna
16 4FW Nika Petarić (2002-06-02) 2 June 2002 2 0 Croatia Dinamo Zagreb
17 4FW Karla Jedvaj (2000-11-16) 16 November 2000 13 0 Austria Blau-Weiß Linz
19 4FW Paula Vidović (2003-06-16) 16 June 2003 Germany FC Ingolstadt 04
4FW Andrea Glibo (2002-04-05) 5 April 2002 Austria Sturm

Recent call-ups

The following players were named to a squad in the last 12 months.
This list may be incomplete.
Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Danijela Vidović (2003-06-05) 5 June 2003 0 0 Croatia Rijeka  Slovakia, 26 September 2023
DF Janja Čanjevac (1999-08-08) 8 August 1999 9 0 Croatia Hajduk  Slovakia, 26 September 2023
DF Lucia Domazet (2003-06-17) 17 June 2003 10 0 Croatia Split  Finland, 31 October 2023
MF Mia Došen (2003-09-25) 25 September 2003 United States Parkside  Slovakia, 26 September 2023
MF Helena Spajić (2000-02-08) 8 February 2000 25 0 Croatia Dinamo Zagreb  Finland, 31 October 2023
MF Ivana Kirilenko (2000-06-21) 21 June 2000 8 0 Spain Dux Logroño  Finland, 31 October 2023
MF Veronika Terzić (2000-02-16) 16 February 2000 Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo  Finland, 31 October 2023
MF Fatjesa Gegollaj (2001-11-05) 5 November 2001 Saudi Arabia Al-Ula FC  Finland, 31 October 2023
FW Selma Kajdić (1996-05-03) 3 May 1996 2 0 Austria Dornbirn  Slovakia, 26 September 2023
FW Ivana Slipčević (1998-08-23) 23 August 1998 11 0 Germany FC Ingolstadt 04  Finland, 31 October 2023

Competitive record

  Champions  
  Runners-up  
  Third place  
  Fourth place  
  Tournament played fully or partially on home soil  

FIFA Women's World Cup

FIFA Women's World Cup record Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad Pos Pld W D L GF GA
China 1991 Part of  Yugoslavia
Sweden 1995 Did not enter
United States 1999
United States 2003 Did not qualify 2/5 8 4 1 3 16 11
China 2007 2/4 6 3 0 3 11 11
Germany 2011 6/6 10 0 2 8 4 27
Canada 2015 4/6 10 2 2 6 7 20
France 2019 5/5 8 0 3 5 5 20
Australia New Zealand 2023 4/6 10 3 1 6 6 18
2027 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/9 — 0/6 52 12 9 31 49 107

Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out; correct as of 6 September 2022 after the match against  Lithuania.

Matches
First match –
Biggest win –
Biggest defeat –

UEFA Women's Championship

UEFA Women's Championship record Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad Pos Pld W D L GF GA
Italy 1969 Part of  Yugoslavia
Italy 1979
Denmark England Italy Sweden 1984
Norway 1987
West Germany 1989
Denmark 1991
Italy 1993 Did not enter
England Germany Norway Sweden 1995 Did not qualify 2/4 6 3 1 2 8 18
Norway Sweden 1997 4/4 8 0 1 7 2 23
Germany 2001 4/4 6 1 0 5 7 19
England 2005 3/5 8 4 1 3 17 22
Finland 2009 3/4 3 2 0 1 9 6
Sweden 2013 5/5 8 0 1 7 6 26
Netherlands 2017 4/5 8 2 1 5 8 15
England 2022 4/5 8 2 1 5 7 19
Switzerland 2025 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/15 — 0/8 55 14 6 35 64 148

Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out; correct as of 23 February 2021 after the match against  Romania.

Matches
First match –
Biggest win –
Biggest defeat –

UEFA Women's Nations League

UEFA Women's Nations League Finals record
Season LG GP Pos Pld W D L GF GA P/R RK Year Round Pld W D L GF GA Squad
2023–24 B 2 2nd6303510Same position23rd 2024 Did not qualify
Total 6 3 0 3 5 10 Total 0/1 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks; correct as of 5 December 2023 after the match against  Romania.

Matches
First match  Croatia 2–1 Romania 
(Varaždin, Croatia; 22 September 2023)
Biggest win  Croatia 2–0 Slovakia 
(Velika Gorica, Croatia; 1 December 2023)
Biggest defeat  Slovakia 4–0 Croatia 
(Senec, Slovakia; 26 September 2023)

Individual statistics

As of 5 December 2023

Most capped players

Iva Landeka has played 102 matches for Croatia, making her most capped Croatian player
Iva Landeka has played 102 matches for Croatia, making her most capped Croatian player
Rank Player Caps Goals Career
1 Iva Landeka 102 14 2006–2022
2 Sandra Žigić 94 10 2005–2019
3 Kristina Nevrkla 87 4 2008–
4 Izabela Lojna 82 12 2010–
5 Maja Joščak 77 20 2006–2019
Doris Bačić 0 2011–
7 Leonarda Balog 68 1 2009–
8 Kristina Šundov 59 8 2003–2020
9 Violeta Baban 58 8 2002–2016
10 Ana Jelenčić 47 1 2011–

Top goalscorers

With 20 goals, Maja Joščak is the top goalscorer for the Croatia's women's national football team
With 20 goals, Maja Joščak is the top goalscorer for the Croatia's women's national football team
Rank Player Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Maja Joščak 20 77 0.26 2006–2019
2 Ivana Rudelić 18 46 0.38 2015–
3 Katarina Kolar 16 40 0.4 2006–2014
4 Iva Landeka 14 102 0.14 2006–2022
5 Marina Koljenik 13 35 0.37 1994–2007
6 Ljiljana Jakšić 12 22 0.55 1995–2005
Izabela Lojna 81 0.15 2010–
8 Sandra Žigić 10 94 0.11 2005–2019
9 Violeta Baban 8 58 0.14 2003–2020
Kristina Šundov 59 0.14 2002–2016

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking". FIFA. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  2. ↑ Hrvatske reprezentativke okupile su se za posljednje dvije utakmice u ovogodišnjoj Ligi nacija!
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