Croatia’s participation in the World Cup finals in Russia will be the fifth participation of a Central and Eastern European country in the final. Previously, finalists from this region were:
Czechoslovakia in 1934
Hungary in 1938 and 1954
and again Czechoslovakia in 1962
In addition to the final, teams from Central and Eastern Europe were ranked in the top four in the following years:
1930 Yugoslavia: 4th place
1934 Austria: 4th place
1954 Austria: 4th place
1962 Yugoslavia: 4th place
1966 The USSR (now Russia and 14 more independent states): 4th place
1974 Poland: 3rd place
1982 Poland: 3rd place
1994 Bulgaria: 4th place
1998 Croatia: 3rd place
2002 Turkey: 3rd place
We wish Croatia to succeed on July 15, 2018 at Luzhniki stadium!
Source: FIFA and DK statistics
Photo; Map Loco