Croatia squad for World Cup qualifiers against Gibraltar & Czechia; Luka Modric included

The Croats will face Czechia and Gibraltar for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Zlatko Dalić, the Croatian coach, has selected a roster of 24 players for the forthcoming World Cup qualifying matches against Gibraltar and Czechia.

The Vatreni have a spotless record going into the October qualifiers after earning all wins from their first four games. On October 9, they will play Czechia in Prague, and three days later, they will host Gibraltar in Varaždin.

Dalić has given 12 standby call-ups in addition to his main squad, which allows him flexibility in responding to player form changes or injuries.

Midfielder Luka Sučić, who missed last month’s game against Czechia in Osijek because he was attending a family wedding, is one of the players on that standby list.

Coach Dalić: “This will be our toughest test”

“The results so far speak for themselves and it’s natural to stick with the team that has delivered 12 points.

“I am pleased to see Joško [Gvardiol] back in top shape and we will wait for Mateo [Kovačić] until the last moment because of his importance. With more standby call-ups, we have left ourselves options as some players struggle with injuries, club status or are pushing through with good form.”

The group runner-up will go to the play-offs, but only the group champion will be directly qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Following October, Croatia will play Montenegro in Podgorica and the Faroe Islands in Rijeka to wrap up the qualifying campaign in November.

Croatia squad for the October international break

Goalkeepers: Dominik Livaković, Ivica Ivušić, Dominik Kotarski

Defenders: Joško Gvardiol, Duje Ćaleta-Car, Josip Šutalo, Josip Stanišić, Marin Pongračić, Martin Erlić, Luka Vušković

Midfielders: Luka Modrić, Mateo Kovačić, Mario Pašalić, Lovro Majer, Martin Baturina, Kristijan Jakić, Petar Sučić, Nikola Moro, Toni Fruk

Forwards: Ivan Perišić, Andrej Kramarić, Ante Budimir, Marco Pašalić, Franjo Ivanović

Standby call-ups: Nikola Vlašić, Bruno Petković, Josip Juranović, Mislav Oršić, Borna Sosa, Luka Sučić, Petar Musa, Igor Matanović, Domagoj Bradarić, Ivan Smolčić, Karlo Letica, Ivor Pandur

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