Croatia men's national basketball team

The Croatia men's national basketball team (Croatian: Hrvatska košarkaška reprezentacija)[3] represents Croatia in international basketball matches. The team is controlled by the Croatian Basketball Federation (HKS).[4]

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Croatia women's national basketball team.

Croatia
FIBA ranking25 Decrease 2 (27 February 2023)[1]
Joined FIBA1992
FIBA zoneFIBA Europe
National federationHKS
CoachJosip Sesar
Nickname(s)Kockasti
(The Chequered Ones)
Olympic Games
Appearances4
MedalsSilver Silver: (1992)
FIBA World Cup
Appearances3
MedalsBronze Bronze: (1994)
EuroBasket
Appearances14
MedalsBronze Bronze: (1993, 1995)
First international
 Germany 86–74 Croatia 
(Murcia, Spain; 22 June 1992)[2]
Biggest win
 Croatia 124–51 Iceland 
(Murcia, Spain; 24 June 1992)
Biggest defeat
 Croatia 70–103 United States 
(Barcelona, Spain; 27 July 1992)
Medal record
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place1992 BarcelonaTeam
FIBA World Cup
Bronze medal – third place1994 Canada
EuroBasket
Bronze medal – third place1993 Germany
Bronze medal – third place1995 Greece
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place2009 PescaraTeam
Silver medal – second place1993 Languedoc-RoussillonTeam

The biggest success Croatia has achieved was at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics when the team reached the final against the United States and won the silver medal. Croatia has also won one bronze medal at the FIBA World Cup and two bronze medals at EuroBasket.

Croatia's Krešimir Ćosić, Dražen Petrović, Dino Rađa, Mirko Novosel and Toni Kukoč are members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Ćosić was inducted in 1996, Petrović in 2002, Rađa in 2018 and Kukoč in 2021, all as players. Novosel was inducted in 2007 as a coach. Petrović, Ćosić, Kukoč and Novosel are members of the FIBA Hall of Fame. Ćosić is also the only Croatian to have received the FIBA Order of Merit. Ćosić, however, never played for the Croatia national team. As he was only a member of the Yugoslavia national team, holding the record for number of medals (including Olyimpic gold) and the most games played by a player.

History

Prior to Croatian independence

Croatia played its first unofficial friendly game on 2 June 1964 in Karlovac.[5] Croatian team played against US All Star Team and lost 65–110 (31–50). USA players coached by Red Auerbach were Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, K. C. Jones, Jerry Lucas, Bob Pettit, Oscar Robertson and Bill Russell and Croatian team was Giuseppe Gjergja, Nemanja Đurić, Živko Kasun, Zlatko Kiseljak, Slobodan Kolaković, Dragan Kovačić, Boris Križan, Stjepan Ledić, Mirko Novosel, Marko Ostarčević, Petar Skansi and Željko Troskot.[6][7]

Independent Croatia

After independence of Croatia in 1991, the first official tournament played by Croatians were the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Croatia defeated the CIS team 75–74 and reached the final against the USA Dream Team led by Michael Jordan. The USA won 85–117, but Croatia won its first medal at a major tournament in history.[8]

The next competition for Croatia was the 1993 EuroBasket in Germany. Tragically, before the tournament Dražen Petrović died in a car accident on 7 June 1993 at the age of 28. Croatia still managed to reach the bronze medal game to defeat Greece 99–59.[9]

Croatia earned its third medal at the 1994 FIBA World Cup in Canada. Croatia lost their semi-finals match against Russia 64–66, but beat Greece once again 78–60 for the bronze medal. A similar occurrence happened at the EuroBasket 1995 in Greece. Croatia lost in the semi-finals 80–90 against Lithuania, but beat Greece 73–68 for the third time in a row in a bronze medal match. That medal to date was the last Croatian medal from any major tournament. At the 1996 Summer Olympics Croatia finished in a subpar seventh place.[10]

Decline

At the EuroBasket 1997 in Spain, the new Croatian generation emerged, but ended in 11th place. Croatia failed to qualify for the 2000, 2004 and 2012 Summer Olympics, but finished sixth in 2008. Croatia also failed to qualify for the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups. Although the team did manage to qualify in 2010, before falling in the Round of 16. However, at the EuroBasket 2013, Croatia had its best tournament appearance since 1995, where the team finished in fourth place.[11]

Honours

The Croatia national team's all-time medal table:

Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
Summer Olympics 0101
FIBA World Cup 0011
EuroBasket 0022
Mediterranean Games 1102
Stanković Cup 2103
Total 3339

Competitive record

Results and fixtures

  Win   Loss

2022
25 February 2022 (2022-02-25) Croatia  64–70  Sweden Zagreb
18:30 Scoring by quarter: 15–18, 20–17, 10–17, 19–18
Pts: Zubčić 20
Rebs: Krušlin 6
Asts: Gnjidić, Krušlin 2		 Boxscore Pts: Gaddefors 16
Rebs: Birgander 12
Asts: Håkanson 6		 Arena: Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall
Attendance: 2,000
Referees: Georgios Poursanidis (GRE), Marius Ciulin (ROU), Martin Horozov (BUL)
Note:
28 February 2022 (2022-02-28) Sweden  98–1050(2OT)  Croatia Norrköping
19:00 Scoring by quarter: 21–14, 20–12, 18–24, 20–29, Overtime: 9–9, 10–17
Pts: Håkanson 31
Rebs: Birgander 18
Asts: Håkanson 7		 Boxscore Pts: Filipović 29
Rebs: Matković 13
Asts: Krušlin 6		 Arena: Stadium Arena
Attendance: 2,683
Referees: Manuel Mazzoni (ITA), Tomas Jasevicius (LTU), Thomas Bissuel (FRA)
Note:
30 June 2022 (2022-06-30) Slovenia  97–69  Croatia Ljubljana
20:15 Scoring by quarter: 33–8, 21–27, 22–16, 21–18
Pts: Dončić 21
Rebs: Tobey 13
Asts: Dončić 10		 Boxscore Pts: Hezonja 22
Rebs: Hezonja 9
Asts: Hezonja 6		 Arena: Arena Stožice
Attendance: 13,000
Referees: Yohan Rosso (FRA), Luis Castillo (ESP), Michał Proc (POL)
Note:
3 July 2022 (2022-07-03) Croatia  79–81  Finland Rijeka
20:00 Scoring by quarter: 17–21, 17–22, 27–17, 18–21
Pts: Bogdanović, Zubac 21
Rebs: Prkačin 9
Asts: three players 4		 Boxscore Pts: Markkanen 19
Rebs: Valtonen 9
Asts: Maxhuni 5		 Arena: Centar Zamet
Attendance: 2,500
Referees: Yener Yılmaz (TUR), Martin Horozov (BUL), Fernando Calatrava (ESP)
Note:
25 August 2022 Poland  69–72  Croatia Warsaw, Poland
18:30 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 15–11, 16–10, 16–28, 22–23
Pts: Ponitka 26
Rebs: three players 6
Asts: Ponitka 6		 Boxscore Pts: Zubac 19
Rebs: Zubac 10
Asts: Šarić 6		 Arena: Arena COS Torwar
Attendance: 4,299
Referees: Gintaras Vitkauskas (LTU), Ivor Matějek (CZE), Zdenko Tomašovič (SVK)
28 August 2022 Croatia  84–53  Switzerland Opatija, Croatia
20:00 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 22–10, 28–16, 20–15, 14–12
Pts: Matković 17
Rebs: Matković 12
Asts: Gnjidić, Simon 5		 Boxscore Pts: Fofana 10
Rebs: Rocak 5
Asts: Kazadi 3		 Arena: Sportska dvorana Marino Cvetković
Attendance: 1,600
Referees: Petros Papapetrou (GRE), Geert Jacobs (BEL), Alessandro Perciavalle (ITA)
10 November 2022 Austria  75–100  Croatia Graz, Austria
20:20 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 24–18, 19–30, 16–25, 16–27
Pts: Vujošević 18
Rebs: Rados 8
Asts: Guttl 4		 Boxscore Pts: Badžim 23
Rebs: Branković 5
Asts: Kapusta 8		 Arena: Raiffeisen Sportpark
Attendance: 2,115
Referees: Ventsislav Velikov (BUL), Mehmet Karabilecen (TUR), Marek Kúkelčík (SVK)
13 November 2022 Croatia  79–87  Poland Zagreb, Croatia
20:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 18–21, 19–13, 19–24, 23–29
Pts: Branković 17
Rebs: Prkačin 6
Asts: Kapusta 8		 Boxscore Pts: Garbacz, Zyskowski 21
Rebs: Sokołowski 8
Asts: four players 4		 Arena: Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall
Attendance: 5,200
Referees: Sergii Zashchuk (UKR), Ilias Kounelles (CYP), Zdenko Tomašovič (SVK)

2023
23 February 2023 Switzerland  56–64  Croatia Fribourg, Switzerland
19:30 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 21–13, 17–19, 11–15, 7–17
Pts: Gravet, Polite 11
Rebs: Cotture 8
Asts: Kazadi 9		 Boxscore Pts: Prkačin 15
Rebs: Branković, Prkačin 8
Asts: four players 4		 Arena: Salle Saint-Lèonard
Referees: Gintaras Vitkauskas (LTU), Stylianos Simeonidis (GRE), Can Mavisu (TUR)
26 February 2023 Croatia  84–74  Austria Split, Croatia
18:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 23–19, 27–17, 21–20, 13–18
Pts: Filipović 17
Rebs: Branković 7
Asts: Mavra 6		 Boxscore Pts: Mahalbašić 21
Rebs: Brajkovic 10
Asts: Kaferle 7		 Arena: Arena Gripe
Attendance: 1,500
Referees: Mehmet Şahin (TUR), Francisco Araña (ESP), Ivor Matějek (CZE)

Team

Current roster

Roster for the EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers matches on 23 and 26 February 2023 against Switzerland and Austria.[12]

Croatia men's national basketball team roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameAge – Date of birthHeightClubCtr.
SG 1 Toni Perković 24 – (1998-04-10)10 April 1998 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Split Croatia
PG 2 Goran Filipović 26 – (1996-11-26)26 November 1996 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Coruña Spain
PG 4 Borna Kapusta 26 – (1996-07-24)24 July 1996 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Cibona Croatia
SG 5 Antonio Jordano 23 – (1999-02-25)25 February 1999 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Élan Chalon France
F 6 Matej Rudan 21 – (2001-03-21)21 March 2001 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Mega Serbia
G/F 7 Lovre Runjić 22 – (2000-09-09)9 September 2000 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Split Croatia
F 8 Roko Prkačin 20 – (2002-11-26)26 November 2002 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Girona Spain
F 10 Tomislav Buljan 20 – (2002-11-03)3 November 2002 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Joventut Spain
G/F 18 Roko Badžim 25 – (1997-06-24)24 June 1997 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Konyaspor Turkey
C 22 Danko Branković 22 – (2000-11-05)5 November 2000 2.14 m (7 ft 0 in) Mega Serbia
SG 23 Mateo Drežnjak 23 – (1999-03-08)8 March 1999 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Derby Montenegro
F 24 Dario Drežnjak 24 – (1998-03-24)24 March 1998 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Zadar Turkey
PG 30 Dominik Mavra 28 – (1994-06-15)15 June 1994 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Split Croatia
G/F 99 Toni Nakić 23 – (1999-06-01)1 June 1999 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Río Breogán Spain
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the competition
  • Age – describes age
    on 23 February 2023

Depth chart
Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Dario Drežnjak Danko Branković
PF Roko Prkačin Matej Rudan Tomislav Buljan
SF Mateo Drežnjak Roko Badžim Toni Nakić
SG Antonio Jordano Toni Perković Lovre Runjić
PG Goran Filipović Dominik Mavra Borna Kapusta

Head coaches

Past rosters
See also: List of Croatia men's national basketball team players

Notable players and coaches

Head-to-head record

Biggest tournament wins

20+ point difference

Olympic Games World Cup EuroBasket
  • +34 vs. Iran (91–57) 2008
  • +33 vs. Australia (98–65) 1992
  • +31 vs. China (109–78) 1996
  • +23 vs. Angola (71–48) 1996
  • +21 vs. Germany (99–78) 1992
  • +51 vs. South Korea (104–53) 1994
  • +32 vs. China (105–73) 1994
  • +31 vs. Canada (92–61) 1994
  • +26 vs. Greece (81–55) 1994
  • +21 vs. Iran (75–54) 2010
  • +20 vs. Cuba (85–65) 1994
  • +20 vs. Tunisia (84–64) 2010
  • +50 vs. Turkey (113–63) 1993
  • +40 vs. Greece (99–59) 1993
  • +38 vs. Czech Republic (107–69) 2017
  • +32 vs. Belgium (106–74) 1993
  • +25 vs. Finland (88–63) 2013
  • +22 vs. Turkey (90–68) 1995
  • +22 vs. Czech Republic (86–64) 1999
  • +22 vs. Ukraine (93–71) 2003
  • +22 vs. Portugal (90–68) 2007
  • +21 vs. Bulgaria (104–83) 1993
  • +21 vs. Great Britain (86–65) 2022
  • +20 vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (98–78) 1993
  • +20 vs. Germany (75–55) 1997

Biggest tournament losses

-20> point difference

Olympic Games World Cup EuroBasket
  • -33 vs. USA (70–103) 1992
  • -32 vs. USA (85–117) 1992
  • -31 vs. USA (71–102) 1996
  • -24 vs. Argentina (53–77) 2008
  • -28 vs. USA (78–106) 2010
  • -28 vs. Spain (40–68) 2013
  • -26 vs. Spain (66–92) 2013
  • -21 vs. Czech Republic (59–80) 2015

Biggest qualification wins

20+ point difference

Olympic qualification World Cup qualification EuroBasket qualification
  • +73 vs. Iceland (124–51) 1992
  • +52 vs. Portugal (109–57) 1992
  • +46 vs. Italy (108–62) 1992
  • +39 vs. Greece (102–63) 1992
  • +23 vs. Slovenia (93–70) 1992
  • +27 vs. Romania (90–63) 2018
  • +60 vs. Romania (115–55) 1997
  • +56 vs. Macedonia (128–72) 1993[14]
  • +40 vs. Belarus (112–72) 1993
  • +34 vs. Latvia (113–79) 1993
  • +33 vs. Romania (119–86) 1993
  • +31 vs. Switzerland (84–53) 2025
  • +29 vs. Ukraine (107–78) 1993
  • +25 vs. Austria (100–75) 2025

See also

References
  1. "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 27 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  2. "XIII Olympic Basketball Tournament (Barcelona 1992) Qualifying stage". Linguasport. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  3. "Croatia basketball news". eurobasket.com.
  4. Naslovnica – Hrvatski košarkaški savez
  5. "All Star NBA u Šancu 1964". kafotka.net. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  6. "U Šancu haklale NBA zvijezde, a u Draganiću gradili naftnu bušotinu". www.kaportal.hr. Archived from the original on 19 July 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  7. "KARLOVAC: 40 GODINA NBA LIGE U KARLOVCU". Index.hr. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  8. "Croatia at the 1992 Olympic Games". Archive.fiba.com. 8 August 1992.
  9. "Croatia v Greece EuroBasket 1993 Bronze medal game results". Archive.fiba.com. 3 July 1993.
  10. "Croatia at the 1996 Olympic Games". Archive.fiba.com. 2 August 1996.
  11. "Croatia at the EuroBasket 2013". Archive.fiba.com. 22 September 2013.
  12. "Croatia during the EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers in February 2023". Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  13. "ACO PETROVIĆ OTIŠAO, A HRVATSKA EKSPRESNO DOBILA NOVOG IZBORNIKA EVO TKO ĆE VODITI REPREZENTACIJU U KVALIFIKACIJAMA ZA SVJETSKO PRVENSTVO!". Jutarnji.hr. 15 September 2017.
  14. "XXVIII European Championship (München 1993) Qualifying stage". Linguasport. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
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