Croatia men's national basketball team

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]

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]

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]

Roster for the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers matches on 23 and 26 February 2024 against France and Cyprus.[12]

Croatia men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. SG 1 Toni Perković 25 – (1998-04-10)10 April 1998 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Split PG 2 Goran Filipović 27 – (1996-11-26)26 November 1996 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Igokea G 3 Jaleen Smith 29 – (1994-11-24)24 November 1994 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Partizan PG 4 Borna Kapusta 27 – (1996-07-24)24 July 1996 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Derby PF 5 Roko Prkačin 21 – (2002-11-26)26 November 2002 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Gran Canaria PG 6 Mate Kalajžić 25 – (1998-03-15)15 March 1998 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Split G/F 8 Mario Hezonja 28 – (1995-02-25)25 February 1995 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Real Madrid C 13 Ivan Vraneš 27 – (1996-05-29)29 May 1996 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) Juventus SG 18 Roko Badžim 26 – (1997-08-18)18 August 1997 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Merkezefendi C 22 Danko Branković 23 – (2000-11-05)5 November 2000 2.14 m (7 ft 0 in) Bayern Munich SG 23 Mateo Drežnjak 24 – (1999-03-08)8 March 1999 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Derby SF 24 Dario Drežnjak 25 – (1998-03-24)24 March 1998 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Zadar C 34 Marin Marić 30 – (1994-02-21)21 February 1994 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Andorra PF 99 Toni Nakić 24 – (1999-06-01)1 June 1999 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Breogán	Head coach Josip Sesar Assistant coach(es) Ivan Perinčić Ivan Tomas Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the competition Age – describes age on 23 February 2024

20+ point difference

• Croatia also defeated Albania (94–70) for a win margin of +24 at the 2009 Mediterranean Games.

-20> point difference

20+ point difference