At the 1998 FIFA World Cup Croatia participated in the event for the first time. The country went on to finish third.

Qualifications

Croatia was drawn in Group A of UEFA's World Cup qualifications along with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Greece, and Slovenia. Croatia finished second, behind Denmark, and qualified for the World Cup. The team had the following results: The final standings were the following:

Players

Team captain Zvonimir Boban is the only player that appeared in all 10 qualifying matches. Davor Šuker was top scorer with 5 goals. Ardian Kozniku, Petar Krpan, Anthony Šerić and Vladimir Vasilj did not appear in any of the qualifying matches but made the final World Cup squad. Complete list of players in the qualifying matches {|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;" !width=50px|# !class="unsortable" width=150px|Name !width=50px|Games Played !width=50px|Goals ! style="background-color: #ffdddd" | Alen Bokšić ! style="background-color: #ffdddd" | Igor Cvitanović ! style="background-color: #ffdddd" | Nikola Jerkan ! style="background-color: #ffdddd" | Niko Kovač ! style="background-color: #ffdddd" | Tomislav Erceg ! style="background-color: #ffdddd" | Tonči Gabrić ! style="background-color: #ffdddd" | Nenad Pralija ! style="background-color: #ffdddd" | Nikola Jurčević ! style="background-color: #ffdddd" | Daniel Šarić

World Cup Squad

Head coach: Miroslav Blažević

Croatia at the World Cup

At the World Cup, Croatia was drawn into Group H along with Argentina, Jamaica, Japan. The team advanced to the round of sixteen, finishing in second place in the group. The team had the following results: June 14, 1998 June 20, 1998 June 26, 1998 Croatia went on to face the Romanian squad in the round of sixteen. June 30, 1998 Croatia then played the heavily favoured German squad in the quarter-finals after their victory over Romania. July 4, 1998 After this surprise victory, Croatia played the host French team. July 8, 1998 Croatia lost the match against France, ending their World Cup dreams. However, they entered the third place consolation match against the Netherlands. July 11, 1998 With this victory, Croatia finished in third, becoming the surprise of the tournament. Striker Davor Šuker also earned the tournament's Golden Boot for his six goals.