Ivan Rakitić 16th Croatian in UEFA Champions League Final – Who were the Others?

For a small nation, Croatia’s contribution to the world of football has been massive. This week Ivan Rakitić became the 16th Croatian player who will be part of a side in a UEFA Champions League final after Barcelona knocked out Bayern Munich in the semi-final. So who were the other 15?

We look back over the years to see which Croatian players were part of a final of the world’s pinnacle club competition.

– Alen Bokšić (Marseille – 1993) and (Juventus – 1997)
– Zvonimir Boban (AC Milan – 1994, 1995)
– Davor Šuker (Real Madrid – 1998)
– Goran Vlaović (Valencia – 2000)
– Boris Živković (Bayer Leverkusen – 2002)
– Marko Babić (Bayer Leverkusen – 2002)
– Jurica Vranješ (Bayer Leverkusen 2002
– Igor Tudor (Juventus – 2003)
– Dario Šimić (AC Milan – 2003, 2005, 2007)
– Dado Pršo (AS Monaco – 2004)
– Igor Bišćan (Liverpool – 2005)
– Ivica Olić (Bayern Munich – 2010, 2012)
– Danijel Pranjić (Bayern Munich – 2010)
– Mario Mandžukić (Bayern Munich – 2013)
– Luka Modrić (Real Madrid – 2014)

*Ivan Buljan (HSV – 1980) and Robert Prosinečki (Red Star – 1991) both were in European Cup final sides.

To date only Mario Mandžukić has scored in a Champions League final. If Barcelona win June’s final in Berlin, Ivan Rakitić will become the 9th Croatian to lift the famous trophy.