From a football point of view alone, Croatia are a very depressed team. First of all, because they have not been independent for a long time, they are indeed not a traditional powerhouse if you look at their own heritage alone. Secondly, although Croatia is currently the strongest of the seven Yugoslav teams, assuming that there is still Yugoslavia, then the strength will definitely be stronger than Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia. In the eyes of many nostalgic fans, from a football point of view alone, they would rather see a complete Yugoslav team than a broken six or seven teams.
To be honest, Croatia has achieved good results in the few World Cups since independence. Even in terms of ceilings, they were even better than Yugoslavia back then. After all, Yugoslavia's best World Cup finish is only the last four, while Croatia have already reached the final. Since participating in the World Cup for the first time in 1998, Croatia has won two third-place finishes and one runner-up. You know, Croatia has only participated in 6 World Cups so far, and if you can show such a performance, if you talk about average results, they are definitely at the top level in the world, second only to those super teams.
So, two third places and one runner-up, Croatia's results, in the 100-year history of the World Cup, which team is closest to it?
Don't compare the world's top teams, it's impossible to compare. After all, teams like Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina, and France have several championships in their hands, and they have reached the semi-finals a lot of times, and they are not on the same level as Croatia. To compare, you can only compare with those second-rate teams.
And the best match for this kind of achievement is Sweden.
Sweden is best known for finishing third at the 1994 World Cup. At that time, Sweden was a dark horse and defeated another dark horse, Bulgaria, 4:0 in the third and fourth place finals, and won the third place. This is a bit like the 2022 World Cup when Croatia defeated Morocco 2-1 in the third- and fourth-place finals.
And in the black and white period, Sweden also did well. As early as the 1938 and 1950 World Cups, Sweden reached the semi-finals twice, once third and once fourth. Sweden's best result in history was the runner-up finish at the 1958 World Cup. Sweden were the hosts at the time, and they reached the final for the first time in their history, where they were defeated 2-5 by a mighty Brazil. In the 2018 World Cup final, Croatia lost to France 2:4, which can be regarded as a rout. If it weren't for Mandzukic picking up a leak in Lloris at the last moment, the difference between the two teams would be the same as Sweden and Brazil.
Historically, Sweden have finished second once and finished third twice, exactly the same as Croatia, but Sweden have one more runner-up, which is fourth, which is slightly stronger than Croatia. But considering that Sweden has participated in the World Cup since the black and white period, there are many more matches than Croatia. Croatia has only played 6 times, and it has already reached the height of Sweden for nearly 100 years. At the moment, Sweden are at a low point, missing the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024 in succession, and these years are exactly the time for Croatia to try to improve their results. It may not be a few years before Croatia will match and overtake Sweden's overall World Cup finish.