Croatia to play 10 matches before 2022 FIFA World Cup – the schedule
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
On Sunday Croatia booked its ticket to Qatar with a 1-0 win over Russia in Split.
The 2022 World Cup, which will be the first held in Arab world, will take place from 21 November to 18 December 2022.
Between now and then, Zlatko Dalić will have 10 matches, the first coming in the second half of March with two friendlies.
In June, Croatia will play four matches in the UEFA Nations League. Croatia will find out their opponents when the draw is made on 16 December.
Potential opponents include France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands and Denmark.
In September the final rounds of the Nations League will be held and then it will be friendlies in October before Dalić names his 30-man squad for Qatar.
The draw for the group stages of the 2022 World Cup will take place on 1 April 2022.
Croatia’s fixtures in 2022:
March 21-29 – 2 friendlies
April 1 – World Cup draw
June 2-14 – 4 UEFA Nations League matches
September 22-27 – 2 UEFA Nations League matches
October 4-12 – 1 friendly
November 8-16 – 1 friendly
November 21 – December 18 – 2022 World Cup
“We have great potential and top players, they have to keep it up, no one should think they have great status in the national team, no one is safe in the national team, they are aware that they have to play in their clubs, in March there are friendlies, and in June is the Nations League,” coach Zlatko Dalić told Gol.hr on Monday.
“We will try with three defenders, we will need to prepare very well for the World Cup, we have to expect great things from Croatia, the young are here, but they cannot make a result without these older players. No one is going to make their debut in Qatar, it’s frivolous to expand that list, but if someone shows up, like Mayer, then we’ll call him. We have a good atmosphere in the national team, we have a situation where Vida and Lovren are sitting on the bench… Everyone lives for the result, that relationship is top notch, whoever behaves badly will not be in the national team,” Dalić concluded.
