Croatian footbal team’s first World Cup and winning third place – 1998
In 1998, the Croatian national football team took part in the World Cup for the first time in France and immediately shocked the world under the leadership of Miroslav “Ćiro” Blažević. “Vatreni” (nickname given to the team, meaning fiery ones) threw the whole nation into a trance for a month, only to return from France with a bronze medal that even those whose optimism borders on insanity did not hope for. One of the attackers of the team, Davor Šuker won the Golden Boot with six goals, leaving behind greats like Gabriel Batistuta, Christian Vieri, Ronaldo…