Mislav Oršić gets call up as Croatia squad named

Mislav Oršić

The Croatian national team coach, Zlatko Dalić, has called up 25 players for the upcoming UEFA Nations League matches against Scotland and Poland, set to be played in October, HNS said on Monday.

The Vatreni will continue their Nations League campaign with a home match against Scotland on 12th October in Zagreb (kick-off at 18:00), followed by an away fixture against Poland in Warsaw (15th October at 20:45).

“It makes sense that we’ve stuck with the squad that had a strong performance in September, and it’s a positive that we haven’t had any new injuries.

Additionally, some players have returned to the pitch. Unfortunately, we’re still without Juranović and Stanišić on the right side, but I believe we can compensate well with the players we have, just as we did in September,” said coach Dalić.

“I’m especially pleased that Mislav Oršić is back with us after a serious injury. He’s earned good playing time at his club and will expand our options on the wing. September filled us with new energy and optimism, and we want to maintain that momentum against Scotland and Poland.

We’re aware that these two matches can bring us closer to our goal, but we respect our opponents and know that we’ll only secure the points we want with the same approach, unity, and focus we had in Osijek against Poland,” Dalić added.

The Vatreni will gather in Zagreb on 7th October, where they will train ahead of the match against Scotland at Maksimir Stadium. The bronze medallists from the World Cup will then travel to Warsaw on 14th October, where they will have an official training session the day before the match against Poland.

Croatia celebrate goal against Poland in Osijek

After two rounds in Group 1 of League A, Croatia is tied for second place with Poland, both on three points. First-placed Portugal has a perfect record after two home matches in September, while Scotland sits at the bottom with no points. The top two teams will advance to the Nations League quarter-finals, the last-placed team will be relegated to League B, and the third-placed team will enter a play-off to remain in League A.

Croatia is defending its silver medal from the previous Nations League campaign, where they reached the final tournament by overcoming France, Denmark, and Austria. They defeated the Netherlands in the semi-final but were beaten by Spain in the final after a penalty shootout.

The squad for the matches against Scotland and Poland is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Dominik Livaković, Ivica Ivušić, Dominik Kotarski
Defenders: Joško Gvardiol, Duje Ćaleta-Car, Borna Sosa, Josip Šutalo, Marin Pongračić, Martin Erlić
Midfielders: Luka Modrić, Mateo Kovačić, Mario Pašalić, Luka Ivanušec, Luka Sučić, Kristijan Jakić, Martin Baturina, Petar Sučić, Nikola Moro
Forwards: Ivan Perišić, Andrej Kramarić, Bruno Petković, Mislav Oršić, Marko Pjaca, Ante Budimir, Igor Matanović

On Call: Nikola Vlašić, Marco Pašalić, Nediljko Labrović, Toni Fruk, Robert Ljubičić, Dominik Prpić.