CROATIAN FOOTBAL

The Croatian national football team (Croatian: Hrvatska nogometna reprezentacija), abbreviated as CRO under the official FIFA Trigramme, represents the Republic of Croatia (Republika Hrvatska) in international football matches and is governed by the Croatian Football Federation, the country's leading body of football controlled by Vlatko Marković. The current team has existed since 1990 and was recognised by both FIFA and UEFA—the highest authorities of regional football—by 1993, two years after Croatia gained independence from the former Yugoslavia.[2] Previously sanctioned national teams represented the short-lived Banovina of Croatia and Independent State of Croatia, two temporary puppet states of monarchy ruling, in nineteen friendly matches between 1940 and 1944.[3] Although the team were authorized as a member of FIFA in this earlier period, Croatia remained a constituent federal republic of Yugoslavia and was therefore unable to participate separately at the competitive level.