Details of spectacular welcome party for Croatian football team in Zagreb revealed

The Croatian Football Federation (HNS), in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the City of Zagreb, will organise a welcome back ceremony for the Croatian national football team after the exceptional success achieved at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. 

On Saturday, December 17, the Croatian national team will play against Morocco for 3rd place at the FIFA World Cup, and by reaching the semifinals of the competition, a magnificent sporting success was achieved that caused euphoria in the homeland. 

Regardless of the outcome of the final match, the fans expressed a clear desire to greet their football heroes once again, HNS said on its website. 

The ‘Vatreni’ will land at Zagreb’s Franjo Tuđman Airport on Sunday, December 18 at 5:10 p.m. and will then head towards Ban Josip Jelačić Square along the same route they traveled after winning the silver medal in 2018.

The final destination of the ceremonial reception will be the main square in Zagreb, where a stage will be set up and one of the best football teams in the world will be welcomed with an appropriate program, HNS said.

The director of the program will be Joško Lokas, and the fans and national team members will sing with Prljavo kazalište, Jura Stublić i Film, Daleka obala, Dalmatino, Zaprešić Boys, Opća opasnost and Slavonia band.

The official national anthem of Croatia will be sung by the Band of the Croatian Navy “Sveti Juraj”.

HNS, in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior and the City of Zagreb, will subsequently announce the security details of the reception organisation.

Hrvatski nogometni savez u suradnji s Vladom Republike Hrvatske te Gradom Zagrebom organizirat će svečani doček hrvatske nogometne reprezentacije nakon izuzetnog uspjeha ostvarenog na #FIFAWorldCup u Kataru! 🙌🟥⬜️🙌 #Qatar2022 #Obitelj #Vatreni❤️‍🔥https://t.co/lMcVwxG49U

— HNS (@HNS_CFF) December 15, 2022

“The Croatian Football Federation, on behalf of the national football team, thanks the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the City of Zagreb, the Ministry of Interior, the contractors and everyone involved in the organisation of the reception for the goodwill, effort and commitment shown in order for the event to take place as the players and fans of the Croatian national team deserve,” HNS concluded.

More than 500,000 people took to the streets to welcome Croatia back from the 2018 World Cup in Russia when they finished runners-up, and whilst the same number of people will not gather, a massive turnout is still expected.

Croatia has now reached the semi-finals in three World Cups from the six they have taken part in since their debut in 1998.