Croatia women

Nickname(s)	Lavice (The Lionesses)
Association	Croatian Football Federation (HNS)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Nenad Gračan
Captain	Doris Bačić
Most caps	Iva Landeka (102)
Top scorer	Maja Joščak (20)
FIFA code	CRO
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	56 3 (14 June 2024)[1]
Highest	44 (July 2003 – June 2005)
Lowest	65 (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)
Website	hns-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 have not qualified for any major tournament.

History[edit]

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[edit]

Nicknames[edit]

The Croatia women's national football team has been known or nicknamed as the "Lavice".^{[citation needed]}

Rivalry[edit]

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, which has long suffered from lack of investment, could not demonstrate its domination against its Serbian arch-rival.

Recent results and fixtures[edit]

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[edit]

2024[edit]

Coaching staff[edit]

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

Players[edit]

Current squad[edit]

• The following players were called up for the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying matches against Kosovo on 31 May and 4 June 2024 respectively.^[2]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Doris Bačić	(1995-02-23) 23 February 1995 (age 29)	77	0	Napoli
12	1GK	Ana Filipović	(2003-07-04) 4 July 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Dinamo Zagreb
23	1GK	Laura Fiket	(2002-06-05) 5 June 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Split
5	2DF	Kristina Nevrkla	(2003-06-17) 17 June 2003 (age 21)	88	4	Osijek
3	2DF	Ana Jelenčić	(1994-06-08) 8 June 1994 (age 30)	47	1	Servette
15	2DF	Maria Kunštek	(1998-11-06) 6 November 1998 (age 25)	28	0	Osijek
	2DF	Janja Čanjevac	(1999-08-08) 8 August 1999 (age 24)	9	0	Hajduk
13	2DF	Tea Varćević	(2006-04-25) 25 April 2006 (age 18)
4	2DF	Lucia Orkić
22	3MF	Izabela Lojna	(1992-05-11) 11 May 1992 (age 32)	81	12	Osijek
10	3MF	Anela Lubina	(1995-12-18) 18 December 1995 (age 28)	43	2	Osijek
7	3MF	Petra Pezelj	(1998-10-28) 28 October 1998 (age 25)	41	2	Trabzonspor
13	3MF	Helena Spajić	(2000-02-08) 8 February 2000 (age 24)	25	0	Dinamo Zagreb
6	3MF	Tea Krznarić	(2004-08-09) 9 August 2004 (age 19)	14	0	LASK
11	3MF	Ivana Slipčević	(1998-08-23) 23 August 1998 (age 25)	11	0	FC Ingolstadt 04
2	3MF	Ružica Krajinović	(2002-05-10) 10 May 2002 (age 22)	7	0	Sturm
8	3MF	Ella Ljuština	(2002-05-10) 10 May 2002 (age 22)	11	1	Grasshopper
9	4FW	Ivana Rudelić	(1992-01-25) 25 January 1992 (age 32)	44	17	Basel
17	4FW	Karla Jedvaj	(2000-11-16) 16 November 2000 (age 23)	13	0	Blau-Weiß Linz
19	4FW	Paula Vidović	(2003-06-16) 16 June 2003 (age 21)			FC Ingolstadt 04
	4FW	Ana Maria Marković	(1999-11-09) 9 November 1999 (age 24)	12	1	Grasshoppers
11	4FW	Jelena Đorđić	(2002-01-27) 27 January 2002 (age 22)			First Vienna
11	4FW	Petra Mikulica

Recent call-ups[edit]

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 (age 21)	0	0	Rijeka	Slovakia, 26 September 2023
DF	Lucia Domazet	(2003-06-17) 17 June 2003 (age 21)	10	0	Split	Norway, 5 April 2024
DF	Barbara Živković	(2005-02-15) 15 February 2005 (age 19)			Osijek	Norway, 5 April 2024
DF	Antonia Dulčić	(1997-02-04) 4 February 1997 (age 27)	24	0	ALG Spor	Norway, 5 April 2024
DF	Leonarda Balog	(1993-02-05) 5 February 1993 (age 31)	65	1	St. Pölten	Ukraine, 9 April 2024
MF	Mia Došen	(2003-09-25) 25 September 2003 (age 20)			Parkside	Slovakia, 26 September 2023
MF	Antea Batarilo	(2005-10-02) 2 October 2005 (age 18)			Austria Wien	Romania, 5 December 2023
MF	Fatjesa Gegollaj	(2001-11-05) 5 November 2001 (age 22)			Al-Ula	Ukraine, 9 April 2024
MF	Ivana Kirilenko	(2000-06-21) 21 June 2000 (age 24)	8	0	Dux Logroño	Ukraine, 9 April 2024
MF	Veronika Terzić	(2000-02-16) 16 February 2000 (age 24)			Sarajevo	Ukraine, 9 April 2024
MF	Bianca Rose Galić					Ukraine, 9 April 2024
FW	Selma Kajdić	(1996-05-03) 3 May 1996 (age 28)	2	0	Dornbirn	Slovakia, 26 September 2023
FW	Nika Petarić	(2002-06-02) 2 June 2002 (age 22)	2	0	Dinamo Zagreb	Romania, 5 December 2023
FW	Andrea Glibo	(2002-04-05) 5 April 2002 (age 22)	5	0	Sturm	Ukraine, 9 April 2024

Competitive record[edit]

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

FIFA Women's World Cup[edit]

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
1991	Part of  Yugoslavia
1995	Did not enter
1999
2003	Did not qualify										2/5	8	4	1	3	16	11
2007											2/4	6	3	0	3	11	11
2011											6/6	10	0	2	8	4	27
2015											4/6	10	2	2	6	7	20
2019											5/5	8	0	3	5	5	20
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[edit]

UEFA Women's Championship record											Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1969	Part of  Yugoslavia
1979
1984
1987
1989
1991
1993	Did not enter
1995	Did not qualify										2/4	6	3	1	2	8	18
1997											4/4	8	0	1	7	2	23
2001											4/4	6	1	0	5	7	19
2005											3/5	8	4	1	3	17	22
2009											3/4	3	2	0	1	9	6
2013											5/5	8	0	1	7	6	26
2017											4/5	8	2	1	5	8	15
2022											4/5	8	2	1	5	7	19
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[edit]

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	2nd	6	3	0	3	5	10		23rd		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[edit]

As of 6 June 2024

Most capped players[edit]

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Iva Landeka	102	14	2006–2022
2	Sandra Žigić	94	10	2005–2019
3	Kristina Nevrkla	93	4	2008–
4	Izabela Lojna	86	13	2010–
5	Doris Bačić	82	0	2011–
6	Maja Joščak	77	20	2006–2019
7	Leonarda Balog	72	1	2009–
8	Kristina Šundov	59	8	2003–2020
9	Violeta Baban	58	8	2002–2016
10	Ana Jelenčić	53	1	2011–

Top goalscorers[edit]

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Ivana Rudelić	20	51	0.39	2015–
	Maja Joščak		77	0.26	2006–2019
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
	Izabela Lojna		86	0.15	2010–
7	Ljiljana Jakšić	12	22	0.55	1995–2005
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[edit]

• Croatia women's national under-19 football team
• Croatia women's national under-17 football team
• Croatia women's national under-15 football team
• Croatia national football team
• Croatia national football B team
• Croatia national under-23 football team
• Croatia national under-21 football team
• Croatia national under-20 football team
• Croatia national under-19 football team
• Croatia national under-18 football team
• Croatia national under-17 football team
• Croatia national under-16 football team
• Croatia national under-15 football team

References[edit]