Slaven Bilić announces first squad after returning to Croatia bench: Modrić stays, Mišić receives call-up
Slaven Bilić announced on 7 September the first Croatia national football team squad since taking over as head coach again in July. Croatia will open the new edition of the UEFA Nations League at the end of September and beginning of October with four matches in a short period, and the main squad includes Luka Modrić, Joško Gvardiol, Mateo Kovačić, Ivan Perišić and a number of players who were an important part of the national team in previous cycles. Among the moves attracting particular attention is the call-up of Dinamo midfielder Josip Mišić, while his club teammate Luka Stojković received a standby call-up. The Croatian Football Federation announced that the national team will gather on 21 September in Zagreb, after which preparations will continue in Rijeka. For Bilić, this will be the first gathering of his second spell and immediately a very demanding test, as Croatia will face the Czech Republic, Spain, England and Spain again within eleven days.
26 players in the main squad, another seven on standby
According to the official announcement by the Croatian Football Federation, Bilić included 26 players in the main squad. The goalkeepers are Dominik Livaković, Dominik Kotarski and Ivor Pandur. The defensive line consists of Joško Gvardiol, Josip Juranović, Josip Šutalo, Josip Stanišić, Martin Erlić, Luka Vušković and Ivan Smolčić, while the midfielders are Luka Modrić, Mateo Kovačić, Mario Pašalić, Nikola Vlašić, Martin Baturina, Luka Sučić, Petar Sučić and Josip Mišić. The forwards are Ivan Perišić, Andrej Kramarić, Ante Budimir, Marco Pašalić, Petar Musa, Igor Matanović, Franjo Ivanović and Dion Drena Beljo. Such a selection shows a combination of an experienced core and players who are expected to take on increasing responsibility in the new cycle.
- Goalkeepers: Dominik Livaković, Dominik Kotarski, Ivor Pandur
- Defenders: Joško Gvardiol, Josip Juranović, Josip Šutalo, Josip Stanišić, Martin Erlić, Luka Vušković, Ivan Smolčić
- Midfielders: Luka Modrić, Mateo Kovačić, Mario Pašalić, Nikola Vlašić, Martin Baturina, Luka Sučić, Petar Sučić, Josip Mišić
- Forwards: Ivan Perišić, Andrej Kramarić, Ante Budimir, Marco Pašalić, Petar Musa, Igor Matanović, Franjo Ivanović, Dion Drena Beljo
- Standby call-ups: Lovro Majer, Marin Pongračić, Kristijan Jakić, Nikola Moro, Toni Fruk, Karlo Letica, Luka Stojković
Bilić emphasized at the press conference that the specific feature of the first gathering is precisely the unusually congested schedule. UEFA has planned an extended international window for the start of the competition in which League A teams will play four matches from 24 September to 6 October. Croatia will therefore have to carefully manage workload and playing time, while a deep squad takes on additional importance. Bilić explained that he wants to see a larger number of players at the first gathering and that the squad was not conceived merely as a selection for one or two matches, but as the beginning of an assessment of the team for the entire cycle. In such circumstances, the ability to change the system and player profiles without a major drop in quality will be particularly important.
Modrić continues his international career
One of the most important confirmations ahead of the squad announcement concerned Luka Modrić. On 5 September, the HNS announced that the Croatia captain had confirmed to Bilić and Federation president Marijan Kustić that he would remain available to the national team. According to HNS data, Modrić had made 202 appearances for Croatia by the time of that announcement, and his decision to stay means that the new head coach will still be able to count on the most experienced member of the dressing room in the first matches of his second spell. After announcing the squad, Bilić said that Modrić would not play all four matches in this congested window and that his playing time would be adjusted to a rhythm that suits both the player and the national team. This indicated in advance that workload management would be an important part of the first gathering.
Modrić and Bilić will work together again after 14 years. It was during Bilić's first spell as head coach that Modrić became one of the central players of the Croatia national team, and he later took over the captaincy and led the team through the most successful period in its history. His presence now has a dual value: Croatia retains a player who can still influence the tempo and organization of play, while at the same time gaining continuity in the dressing room at a moment of change in head coach. Bilić also made it clear that status and experience would not automatically mean equal playing time in every match. Such an approach could open up additional space for players such as Petar Sučić, Luka Sučić, Martin Baturina and Josip Mišić.
Mišić as a new profile in midfield
The call-up of Josip Mišić is one of the most noticeable moves in Bilić's first squad. The Dinamo midfielder returns to the senior national team setup after a long period, and the new head coach explained that he sees him as a player profile capable of maintaining the team's balance in front of the defense. At the press conference, Bilić highlighted Mišić's aggressiveness, experience at a high level, confidence and ability to play in the role of a classic "number six". He also emphasized that Mišić is not coming as a "savior", but as a player who can offer Croatia a specific solution in a very high-quality midfield. This is an important tactical message because it shows that the new head coach does not plan to change the midfield merely because of the change on the bench, but is looking for different profiles for different scenarios.
Mišić's call-up gains additional significance in the context of the changes Croatia's midfield has undergone in recent years. Bilić stated that the national team can play with either three or four players in the last line and that he will not force "revolutionary" changes if there is no need for them. In such an approach, a specialized defensive midfielder can be important in matches against opponents who have strong possession and many players between the lines. Croatia will already play Spain twice and England once in the first window, so the balance between controlling the ball and protecting the defense will be among the key tactical issues. Mišić can therefore be viewed as an additional option that allows Bilić to organize the midfield differently without giving up technical quality.
Luka Stojković, who was also mentioned in the context of Bilić's first squad, is not among the 26 players in the main squad but received a standby call-up. This means that he remains in the immediate circle of candidates and can be activated depending on health status or other changes in the squad. Mišić, Kotarski and Beljo are the Dinamo players in the main squad, while Stojković is waiting for his opportunity from the standby list. This distinction is important because the official HNS announcement clearly separates the called-up players from the seven players on standby. With his very first selection, Bilić thus showed that he is also following players from the Croatian league, while wanting to maintain a sufficiently broad reserve pool for a period containing four matches.
Livaković remains among the goalkeepers, but Bilić wants continuity of playing time
In the goalkeeper position, Bilić selected Dominik Livaković, Dominik Kotarski and Ivor Pandur. Livaković's club status attracted particular attention, and the head coach said at the press conference that the Croatia goalkeeper has a great deal of credit earned through his performances for the national team, but also that it is important for every goalkeeper to play regularly. Bilić's message did not mean a change in the hierarchy ahead of the gathering itself, but rather a warning that international status in the long term also depends on competitive rhythm. Kotarski and Pandur therefore enter the international window as serious alternatives, while four matches in a short period give the staff an opportunity to assess the form of several candidates. Managing competition among the goalkeepers will be one of the new head coach's first on-field decisions.
There is no complete overhaul in defense compared with the core that carried the previous cycle. Gvardiol, Stanišić, Šutalo and Juranović remain important candidates, while Bilić also has Erlić, Vušković and Smolčić in the squad. Such a selection offers the possibility of playing with four defenders, but also of switching to a system with three center-backs, which the head coach himself cited as a realistic option. Bilić emphasized that modern systems are not strictly fixed and that the formation changes during a match depending on the phase of play. The opening matches against the Czech Republic and Spain will therefore provide an early indication of how much the new staff will rely on continuity and how much on adapting to the opponent.
Four matches against three strong opponents
Croatia is in Group A3 of the 2026/27 Nations League with Spain, England and the Czech Republic. According to UEFA's official schedule, the first match will be played on 26 September against the Czech Republic in Prague, and three days later Croatia will visit Spain in Seville. A home match against England follows on 3 October in Rijeka, followed by another match against Spain on 6 October in Split. The remaining two matches of the league phase will be played in November: on 12 November Croatia will visit England, and on 15 November it will host the Czech Republic. This is a group in which there is practically no room for gradually increasing intensity because the first window already includes matches against two national teams from the very top of European football.
For the fifth edition of the Nations League, UEFA retained the system in which national teams in each group play one another home and away. In League A, group winners and runners-up advance to the quarter-finals, while the bottom-placed teams are relegated to League B and the third-placed teams enter relegation play-offs. Every point in the group therefore has direct competitive value, and the September-October window is particularly important because Croatia will play two-thirds of its entire league phase during it. UEFA also announced that the competition's final stage will be played in June 2027, following the quarter-finals in March. For Bilić, the Nations League is therefore not merely a series of matches for getting to know the players, but a competition in which results are required from the first day.
Bilić's return after the Dalić era
The Croatian Football Federation appointed Slaven Bilić as head coach on 13 July 2026, following the end of Zlatko Dalić's tenure. Dalić had announced his departure from the bench after the World Cup, leaving behind a period marked by the 2018 World Cup silver medal, the 2022 bronze medal and second place in the 2023 Nations League. Bilić therefore took over a team with very high standards of results, but also with a need to gradually shape a new hierarchy after another major tournament. When appointing him, the HNS emphasized the experience he had gained in club and international football, while Bilić himself said that he wants to keep Croatia among the football elite. The first squad shows that in the initial phase he will not dismantle the team's existing structure, but is introducing several moves that bear his coaching signature.
Bilić first coached Croatia's senior national team from 2006 to 2012. According to his official HNS biography, he managed 65 matches during that period, recording 42 wins, 15 draws and eight defeats. He took Croatia to the 2008 European Championship, where the team won all three group matches before being eliminated by Turkey on penalties in the quarter-finals, and later to Euro 2012. His first spell is particularly remembered for two victories over England in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, including the win at Wembley. His return to the bench twenty years after the beginning of his first spell comes at a significantly different moment: Bilić now inherits a national team with a longer continuity of major results and players who possess enormous experience in the final stages of major competitions.
New staff and emphasis on details
On the same day the squad was announced, the HNS also presented Bilić's complete coaching staff. The head coach will work alongside coaches Nikola Jurčević, Danilo Butorović and Dean Računica, goalkeeper coach Vatroslav Mihačić, fitness coaches Fedor Kulušić and Nick Davies, and video analysts Alen Terzić, Jasmin Osmanović and Ive Bilić. Aljoša Asanović will serve as staff coordinator, while Italian set-piece specialist Gianni Vio has been given a special role. The inclusion of a set-piece specialist shows how strongly the new staff wants to work on segments that often decide the result in evenly matched international games. The HNS states that Bilić has a long professional history with some members of the staff, particularly Nikola Jurčević, with whom he worked during his first spell as national team head coach and later in club football.
Croatia now enters a period in which tactical ideas will have to be transferred to the team with very little time together. The gathering is scheduled for 21 September, while the first match will be played only five days later in Prague. After that, there is no traditional week to prepare for the next opponent: a trip to Spain follows, then a return to home soil and another clash with Spain. Precisely for that reason, Bilić's first squad should also be viewed as an operational group for an unusually intense window, and not merely as a definitive ranking of players in the new hierarchy. The first four matches will show how quickly the new staff can combine the team's continuity from previous years with its own tactical demands and new solutions.
Sources:
- Croatian Football Federation - official squad list, standby call-ups and national team gathering schedule (link)
- Croatian Football Federation - Bilić's press conference and explanations of player selection and the status of Modrić, Livaković and Mišić (link)
- Croatian Football Federation - official decision appointing Slaven Bilić as head coach and context of his return after Dalić's tenure (link)
- Croatian Football Federation - Slaven Bilić's coaching biography and statistics from his first spell (link)
- Croatian Football Federation - confirmation that Luka Modrić will continue his international career (link)
- Croatian Football Federation - composition of the new Croatia national team coaching staff (link)
- UEFA - official schedule and format of the 2026/27 UEFA Nations League (link)
- UEFA - official schedule of Croatia's matches in Nations League Group A3 (link)