Mexicans Shooting Film About Croatia’s Famous 1998 Bronze-Winning Side

Croata’s 1998 bronze-winning side (photo: Getty/HNS)

18 years have passed since Croatia made its name on the world football stage at the 1998 World Cup in France. The third place finish in its first ever World Cup appearance still gets talked about today and no doubt for a long time to come until the feat is surpassed…

That amazing story in France back in 1998 will soon be on the big screen as a group of Mexican film directors are shooting a documentary about Miroslav Blažević’s bronze-winning side.

“This is the story of how one conflict on the football field detonated Croatia’s war of independence and of how, a few years later, the third place in the World Cup was won,” one of the director’s Edson Ramirez said.

The Mexicans were recently in Croatia shooting footage and speaking with some of the players involved in 1998, including captain Zvonimir Boban, Robert Prosinečki, Dario Šimić and coach Blažević.

“We wish to show how a small country, wounded by war, found in the suffering of its people the necessary motivation to try to win a big international competition,” Ramirez said.

“Aside from interviews, we plan to collect footage from other parts of the country which still show traces of war, first and foremost Vukovar. This is a film about a people’s need for its own identity and the struggle to achieve it. This is also a film about a sport whose stadium served as the first scenario in a war with big consequences which led to the disintegration of the former state,” he added.

The film crew will return for three or four more weeks of shooting.