Croatia national under-15 football team

Croatia U15
Nickname(s)Mladi Vatreni (The Young Blazers)
AssociationCroatian Football Federation (HNS)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachSreten Ćuk
Most capsFilip Brekalo (10)
Bartol Barišić (10)
Viktor Kanižaj (10)
Top scorerMario Kosović (6)
FIFA codeCRO
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Croatia 3–0 Slovenia 
(Zabok, Croatia; 10 May 1994)
Biggest win
 Croatia 8–0 Hungary 
(Prelog, Croatia; 7 March 2023)
Biggest defeat
 Croatia 0–6 Argentina 
(Medulin, Croatia; 12 April 2019)
Websitehns-cff.hr

The Croatia national under-15 football team represents Croatia in international football matches for players aged 15 or younger. 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 Mali vatreni ('Little Blazers'). The Mali vatreni participate in the UEFA Under-15 Development Tournaments, ending up as runners-up in the 2023 tournament in Croatia, its first competition in the tournament so far. Other than that, the team competes in Vlatko Marković International Tournament established by the HNS in 2019. The team won the tournament three times, in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Recent results

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

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2023

7 March 2023 (2023-03-07) Friendly Croatia  8–0  Hungary Prelog, Croatia
Report Stadium: SRC Mladost Prelog
9 March 2023 (2023-03-09) Friendly Croatia  0–1  Hungary Čakovec, Croatia
Report
Stadium: SRC Mladost Čakovec
18 April 2023 (2023-04-18) Friendly Montenegro  2–3  Croatia Podgorica, Montenegro
Report
Stadium: Training centre of the Montenegrin Football Association
10 May 2023 (2023-05-10) International Tournament Vlatko Marković South Korea  0–5  Croatia Zagreb, Croatia
Report
Stadium: Stadion Kranjčevićeva
11 May 2023 (2023-05-11) International Tournament Vlatko Marković Croatia  2–0  Finland Karlovac, Croatia
Report Stadium: Stadion Branko Čavlović-Čavlek
12 May 2023 (2023-05-12) International Tournament Vlatko Marković Croatia  3–0 (Awarded)  Wales Karlovac, Croatia
Report Stadium: Stadion Branko Čavlović-Čavlek
14 May 2023 (2023-05-14) International Tournament Vlatko Marković final Belgium  1–1
(1–4 p)
 Croatia Karlovac, Croatia
Report Stadium: Stadion Branko Čavlović-Čavlek
Penalties
20 September 2023 (2023-09-20) UEFA Under-15 Development Tournament Croatia  3–0  Slovakia Kotoriba, Croatia
Report Stadium: Sportski park
22 September 2023 (2023-09-22) UEFA Under-15 Development Tournament Croatia  0–1  Slovenia Varaždin, Croatia
Report Stadium: Stadion Varteks
25 September 2023 (2023-09-25) UEFA Under-15 Development Tournament Croatia  1–1
(6–4 p)
 Turkey Ludbreg, Croatia
Report Stadium: Gradski stadion

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the summer camp in Stubičke Toplice from 4 to 9 August 2023.[1]

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Fran Gračanin (2009-09-03) 3 September 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Lokomotiva Zagreb
1GK Roko Burger (2009-06-20) 20 June 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Hajduk
1GK Josip Pandurić (2009-03-11) 11 March 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Hajduk

2DF Elisandro Kožina Aranha (2009-02-09) 9 February 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Gorica
2DF Franko Hećimović (2009-02-16) 16 February 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Lokomotiva Zagreb
2DF Lovro Renić (2009-02-03) 3 February 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Lokomotiva Zagreb
2DF Mateo Sabo (2009-04-23) 23 April 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Osijek
2DF Ivano Gubo (2009-03-26) 26 March 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Rijeka
2DF Manuel Landripet (2009-05-19) 19 May 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Rudeš
2DF Duje Slatina (2009-06-26) 26 June 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Hajduk
2DF Andro Slaviček (2009-01-16) 16 January 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Dinamo Zagreb
2DF Ante Šimović (2009-06-09) 9 June 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Hajduk
2DF Viktor Vešligaj (2009-12-26) 26 December 2009 (age 14) 0 0 Croatia Rijeka

3MF Ivan Bilobrk (2009-01-22) 22 January 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Lučko
3MF Adriano Debelec (2009-05-12) 12 May 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Varaždin
3MF Filip Kutleša (2009-02-17) 17 February 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Slaven Belupo
3MF Karlo Matko (2009-10-09) 9 October 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Hajduk
3MF Matej Miličić (2009-09-21) 21 September 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Osijek
3MF Marin Modrić (2009-08-05) 5 August 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Hajduk
3MF Ivan Paunović (2009-07-20) 20 July 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Dinamo Zagreb
3MF Nik Škafar Žužić (2009-06-03) 3 June 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Istra 1961
3MF Karlo Zirdum (2009-01-21) 21 January 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Dinamo Zagreb

4FW Duje Ćukušić (2009-09-03) 3 September 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Hajduk
4FW Dino Deklić (2009-04-30) 30 April 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Dinamo Zagreb
4FW Leo Habek (2009-06-15) 15 June 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Varaždin
4FW Mihael Kelava (2009-05-29) 29 May 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Gorica
4FW Lovro Mikulčić (2009-05-23) 23 May 2009 (age 15) 0 0 Croatia Varaždin

Competitive record

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

UEFA Under-15 Development Tournament record

Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Croatia 2023 UEFA Under-15 Development Tournament Runners-up 2nd 3 1 1 1 4 2
Total 0 titles 1/1 3 1 1 1 4 2

Draws include matches decided via penalty shoot-out; correct as of 25 September 2023 after the match against  Turkey.

Matches
First match  Croatia 2–0 Slovakia 
(Kotoriba, Croatia; 20 September 2023)
Biggest win  Croatia 2–0 Slovakia 
(Kotoriba, Croatia; 20 September 2023)
Biggest defeat  Croatia 0–1 Slovenia 
(Varaždin, Croatia; 22 September 2023)

Vlatko Marković International Tournament record

Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Croatia 2019 Vlatko Marković International Tournament Semi-final 4th 4 4 0 0 5 8
Croatia 2021 Vlatko Marković International Tournament Champions 1st 4 4 0 0 14 3
Croatia 2022 Vlatko Marković International Tournament Champions 1st 4 4 0 0 10 1
Croatia 2023 Vlatko Marković International Tournament Champions 1st 4 3 1 0 11 1
Total 3 titles 4/4 16 14 1 1 40 13

Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out; correct as of 14 May 2023 after the match against  Belgium.

Matches
First match  Croatia 1–0 China 
(Pula, Croatia; 10 April 2019)
Biggest win  Croatia 7–1 North Macedonia 
(Karlovac, Croatia; 6 May 2021)
Biggest defeat  Croatia 0–6 Argentina 
(Medulin, Croatia; 12 April 2019)

See also

References

  1. ^ "Ljetni kamp za selekcije U-15 i U-16 u Stubičkim Toplicama". Croatian Football Federation. Zagreb. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2023.