The UEFA European Championship is one of the major competitive international football tournaments, first played in 1960, whose finals stage has been held every four years. The Croatia national football team has contested this tournament since 1996, having been part of Yugoslavia up until the qualifying stages for the 1992 edition. Croatia has qualified for every Euro competition except for the 2000 edition, played in Belgium and the Netherlands. The team's best performances have been reaching the quarter-finals twice — in 1996 and 2008, losing to Germany and Turkey, respectively.
Overall record
*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.
UEFA Euro 1996
Qualifying
Group stage
Knockout stage
Quarter-finals
UEFA Euro 2000
Qualifying
UEFA Euro 2004
Qualifying
Play-offs
Croatia won 2–1 on aggregate and qualified for UEFA Euro 2004.
Group stage
UEFA Euro 2008
Qualifying
In the qualifiers, Croatia was drawn into Group E of Euro 2008's qualifications, along with Andorra, England, Estonia, Macedonia, Israel and Russia.
Over the course of qualifying, Croatia racked up nine wins, two draws, and one loss. Croatia's loss was a 2–0 defeat at Skopje, Macedonia. Croatia and Romania became the final teams to record their first loss, both on the 17 November 2007 matchday, in a qualification cycle where every team suffered at least one defeat. Croatia gathered numerous headlines after knocking England out on the final matchday, with a 3–2 victory at Wembley Stadium.
Croatian striker Eduardo was the second-highest goalscorer in qualifications with ten goals, trailing Northern Ireland's David Healy.
Group stage
Knockout phase
Quarter-finals
UEFA Euro 2012
Qualifying
Play-offs
Croatia won 3–0 on aggregate and qualified for UEFA Euro 2012.
Group stage
UEFA Euro 2016
Qualifying
Group stage
Knockout phase
Round of 16
UEFA Euro 2020
Qualifying
Group stage
Knockout phase
Round of 16
List of matches
Players with most appearances
Goalscorers
Awards
Team of the Tournament: Davor Šuker (1996), Luka Modrić (2008) With three goals, Mario Mandžukić was the joint-top scorer in 2012 alongside five other players, but failed to win an award.
See also
Croatia at the FIFA World Cup
Croatia in the UEFA Nations League
Serbia at the UEFA European Championship (records for Yugoslavia)