Goalkeepers

• Dominik Livaković — Dinamo Zagreb
• Dominik Kotarski — FC Copenhagen
• Ivor Pandur — Hull City

Defenders

• Joško Gvardiol — Manchester City (returned from shin fracture)
• Josip Stanišić — Bayern Munich
• Josip Šutalo — Ajax
• Duje Ćaleta-Car — Real Sociedad
• Marin Pongračić — Fiorentina
• Martin Erlić — Midtjylland
• Luka Vušković — Hamburger SV

Midfielders

• Luka Modrić — AC Milan (fifth World Cup; playing with facial fracture mask)
• Mateo Kovačić — Manchester City (100+ caps)
• Mario Pašalić — Atalanta
• Nikola Vlašić — Torino
• Luka Sučić — Real Sociedad
• Martin Baturina — Como
• Kristijan Jakić — Augsburg
• Petar Sučić — Internazionale
• Nikola Moro — Bologna
• Toni Fruk — Rijeka

Forwards

• Ivan Perišić — PSV Eindhoven (fourth World Cup, 100+ caps)
• Andrej Kramarić — Hoffenheim (100+ caps)
• Ante Budimir — Osasuna
• Petar Musa — FC Dallas (MLS)
• Marco Pašalić — Orlando City (MLS)
• Igor Matanović — Freiburg

Confirmed May 18 by Zlatko Dalić. Modrić now at AC Milan (moved from Real Madrid). Gvardiol cleared after shin fracture surgery in January. Group L: England (June 17, Dallas), Panama (June 23, Toronto), Ghana (June 27, Philadelphia).

Modrić's Last Tournament

Luka Modrić is 40 years old. He reached the 2018 World Cup final, the 2022 semifinal, won the Ballon d'Or, and led a small nation of four million people to heights that the mathematics of football shouldn't allow. He is the greatest footballer Croatia has ever produced by so wide a margin that the conversation barely needs to be had. At 40, playing for Real Madrid in a reduced role, this is his final World Cup. Zlatko Dalić named him in the squad without hesitation.

What Modrić gives Croatia in 2026 is not the same thing he gave them in 2018 — he can no longer play every minute of a seven-match tournament. But the intelligence, the positioning, the ability to pick the right pass under pressure — those things don't age at the same rate as the legs. Croatia will manage his minutes carefully. When he's on the pitch, they're a different team.

Gvardiol — The New Croatian

Joško Gvardiol at 23 is the present and future of Croatian football — one of the best centre-backs in Europe, playing for Manchester City. His reading of the game, his composure on the ball, and his ability to play out from the back make him the foundation of everything Croatia build defensively. He gives Croatia a player who will define the national team for the next decade, the same way Modrić defined the previous two.

Group L — England, Ghana, Panama

Croatia opens against England in Dallas on June 17 — a repeat of the 2018 World Cup semifinal, which Croatia won in extra time. The England community in New York and the Croatian community in Astoria will both be watching that match with the same weight of history behind them. For Croatia, advancing from Group L behind or alongside England is the realistic aim. The Balkan community in Astoria's 36th Avenue corridor will have screens showing every Croatia match.

Goalkeepers

• Dominik Livaković — Dinamo Zagreb
• Dominik Kotarski — FC Copenhagen
• Ivor Pandur — Hull City

Defenders

• Joško Gvardiol — Manchester City
• Duje Ćaleta-Car — Real Sociedad
• Josip Šutalo — Ajax
• Josip Stanišić — Bayern Munich
• Marin Pongračić — Fiorentina
• Martin Erlić — Midtjylland
• Luka Vušković — Hamburger SV

Midfielders

• Luka Modrić — AC Milan (captain)
• Mateo Kovačić — Manchester City
• Mario Pašalić — Atalanta
• Nikola Vlašić — Torino
• Luka Sučić — Real Sociedad
• Martin Baturina — Como
• Kristijan Jakić — Augsburg
• Petar Sučić — Inter Milan
• Nikola Moro — Bologna
• Toni Fruk — Rijeka

Forwards

• Ivan Perišić — PSV Eindhoven
• Andrej Kramarić — Hoffenheim
• Ante Budimir — Osasuna
• Marco Pašalić — Orlando City (MLS)
• Petar Musa — FC Dallas (MLS)
• Igor Matanović — Freiburg

Squad confirmed May 18 by Zlatko Dalić. Key note: Luka Modrić, 40, is at AC Milan after leaving Real Madrid — one final World Cup for the 2018 Ballon d'Or winner.