Faith, unity and great expectations: Dalić's Croatia enters the World Cup with a footballing and symbolic burden
The Croatia national football team enters the 2026 World Cup as a side whose status is measured not only by its current form, but also by the results that marked the last two editions of football's biggest tournament. The silver medal from Russia 2018 and the bronze from Qatar 2022 created the reputation of a national team that, in tournament conditions, regularly exceeds expectations and manages to remain competitive against numerically, financially and infrastructurally larger football systems. Ahead of its appearance in Group L, which also includes England, Panama and Ghana, the subject of the identity of the team led by Zlatko Dalić is once again being opened. Alongside tactical discipline, experience and player quality, public descriptions of this national team often emphasize unity, calmness under pressure and the coach's personal faith. It is precisely this layer of the story that has once again been given space in Catholic media, which portray Dalić as a public figure who does not separate his own professional success from spiritual support.
EWTN recalls Dalić's rosary and his public testimony of faith
The global Catholic media network EWTN News, a service of the Eternal Word Television Network, in an article first published during the 2018 World Cup and subsequently updated, recalled Dalić's earlier statements about faith and the rosary. According to that publication, the Croatia coach publicly said that he links success in his career with faith in God and that in difficult moments he carries a rosary with him. EWTN News presents Dalić as a coach who, already during the tournament in Russia, became interesting to a broader international audience not only because of Croatia's results, but also because of the way he explained his own motivation. Such a portrayal is not sports analysis in the narrow sense, but it shows how the success of the national team is also viewed in part of the international media through a cultural, religious and identity-based framework.
Dalić's faith is not a new topic in public. Since 2018, the coach has said on several occasions that personal spirituality helps him in moments of pressure, and EWTN News particularly highlighted his message that he relies on faith and prayer in the most difficult situations. In a sporting context, this does not mean that the result can be reduced to a religious narrative, nor that the national team's success can be explained by only one dimension. However, in Dalić's case this element is important because it is an integral part of his public identity and of the way he speaks about responsibility, humility and his relationship with the players. That is why the story of the rosary regularly returns whenever Croatia once again reaches the big football stage.
The broader social context also explains why this subject attracts international attention. According to data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics from the 2021 Census, 3,057,735 people in Croatia declared themselves Catholics, which is 78.97 percent of the total population. These data say nothing about the beliefs of individual players or fans, nor should the national team be viewed as a religiously homogeneous group. Still, they show why Catholic tradition is often mentioned in foreign interpretations of Croatian sporting identity as one of the elements of the social background. Professional football remains a competition of knowledge, physical preparation, tactics and performance, but in the case of Dalić's Croatia, the symbolic dimension clearly has additional visibility.
Group L brings a strong opening test
According to the schedule published by the Croatian Football Federation and UEFA, Croatia opens its Group L campaign on 17 June against England in Dallas. After that comes the match against Panama in Toronto, which, according to UEFA's Central European schedule, is listed during the night leading into 24 June, while the final group match against Ghana is on 27 June in Philadelphia. The group is attractive both for its sporting and symbolic significance. England is one of the strongest European opponents and a national team entering the tournament with high ambitions, Panama represents a different tactical and physical challenge, and Ghana brings the experience of African football and a tradition of appearances at World Cups. For Croatia, the start is especially important because the new structure of the tournament allows a broader path toward the knockout stage, but a poor opening can still significantly complicate the continuation of the competition.
The 2026 World Cup is the first edition with 48 national teams, and according to FIFA's official information, the tournament will be played in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America. The format includes 12 groups of four national teams each, and qualification for the new round of 32 will be secured by the two best teams from each group and the eight best third-placed teams. This means that the group does not necessarily have to end in elimination for the third-placed national team, but at the same time it increases the importance of every point, goal difference and overall impression in comparison with other groups. In past tournaments, Croatia often built success by gradually raising its form, but the new format requires quick adaptation and precise management of workload. Within that framework, Dalić's message about calmness and unity also gains very concrete competitive value.
According to the HNS publication after an interview for FIFA, Dalić assessed that Croatia's group is one of the most difficult in the tournament and particularly emphasized the importance of the first match against England. In the same conversation, he stressed that Croatia wants to achieve the best possible result, but also that the team must not be burdened by the successes of previous generations. Such a tone corresponds to his way of leading the national team since 2017, in which great expectations are translated into working discipline, not into additional pressure. A national team that has already won two consecutive World Cup medals can no longer perform from the shadows, but it can try to retain the mentality of a team that does not rely on favorite status. That is precisely one of the main differences between Croatia from the period before 2018 and today's national team.
Unity as a constant word in Dalić's vocabulary
Ahead of the tournament, the Croatian Football Federation relayed statements by Dalić, Andrej Kramarić and Josip Stanišić for FIFA, in which unity is again emphasized as the foundation of the national team. According to HNS, Stanišić assessed that quality alone is not enough for victories and that unity is the team's most important trait. In the same context, Dalić spoke about the motive of playing for the country, the people and the nation, but also about the need not to create additional pressure because of previous results. Such statements fit into the narrative that has been built around Croatia since Russia 2018, when the team reached the final through three extra-time matches and dramatic games. In Qatar 2022, the same motif was repeated through the victory against Brazil after penalties and the bronze medal win against Morocco.
Unity, however, is not an abstract word in professional football. It is seen in the team's ability to remain compact when it does not have possession, in the willingness of older players to accept changes in roles, in the way younger players fit into the existing hierarchy and in calmness after mistakes. After the friendly win against Slovenia in Varaždin, according to HNS, Dalić warned that there are things that need to be improved and that technical errors and defensive transition are areas for additional work. Such a statement shows that the coach, while emphasizing character, does not hide tactical and performance problems. Faith, humility and unity can be part of the identity, but progress from the group will depend on very concrete details: the speed of reaction after losing the ball, the quality of the final pass, defending set pieces and taking chances.
The balance between experience and freshness will be especially important. According to HNS's list for the World Cup, the squad still includes pillars of major results such as Luka Modrić, Ivan Perišić, Andrej Kramarić, Mateo Kovačić and Mario Pašalić, but also players who represent the present and future of the national team, among them Joško Gvardiol, Josip Stanišić, Luka Sučić, Martin Baturina, Petar Sučić and Luka Vušković. UEFA, in its overview of the Croatia national team, highlights Modrić as captain and a key figure, with the note that Croatia has set high standards in recent years because of its silver and bronze medals. That is both an advantage and a burden. The team has experience of matches under the greatest pressure, but every new tournament raises the question of whether the legacy can be extended after a generational change.
Modrić's influence and the legacy of medals
Ahead of the tournament, Luka Modrić remains the central figure of the Croatia national team, not only because of his footballing quality but also because of the continuity that connects different generations. HNS relayed Dalić's assessment that Modrić is still the driving force of the team, the player who keeps the game and the dressing room together. UEFA states that the captain is approaching his fifth World Cup and is nearing the mark of 200 appearances for the national team. Such data explain why his influence in international previews is not reduced only to the technical level of play. Modrić is the symbol of a period in which Croatia went from being a dangerous tournament opponent to a national team that is seriously counted among possible contenders for the final stages ahead of every major competition.
The legacy, however, did not begin in 2018. In the conversation relayed by HNS, Kramarić recalled the generation of 1998, led by players such as Zvonimir Boban, Slaven Bilić and Davor Šuker, which won bronze in France and set the first major international standard. Russia 2018 brought the final and a historic step forward, while Qatar 2022 confirmed that this result was not an exception without continuation. That is exactly why Croatia is under a different magnifying glass in North America than at earlier tournaments. It is no longer expected only to put in a brave performance, but also to show the ability to get through the group again and be a dangerous opponent for everyone in the knockout stage.
In such a context, the match against England carries additional weight. Croatia defeated England 2:1 after extra time in the 2018 World Cup semi-final and secured the final against France, which EWTN News also mentioned in its article about Dalić and the rosary. Eight years later, the meeting in Dallas will not only be a reprise of a great moment from Russian history, but also an opening test of the current balance of power. England has a deep squad, high expectations and the pressure of ending a long wait for a world title. Croatia, on the other hand, has experience in overturning such projections, but for a new result it will need more than memories of previous successes.
Faith as personal support, not a substitute for results
The story of Dalić's faith in public is sometimes reduced to the simple image of the coach with a rosary, but in reality it is part of a broader model of his leadership. In his public appearances, faith is not presented as a guarantee of victory, but as personal support in situations when pressure is great and control is limited. This is an important distinction because elite sport does not recognize symbolism without performance. A national team can have a strong sense of identity, but matches are decided by organization, quality of decisions, physical readiness and concentration. That is why it is most accurate to say that faith and unity in Dalić's Croatia function as a framework for the team's self-understanding, while the footballing result remains the consequence of work on the pitch.
For part of the international audience, Croatia is interesting precisely because it combines several layers: it is a small European country by population, it has an above-average continuity of producing top footballers, it carries a strong memory of major tournaments and it is led by a coach who does not hide his personal beliefs. EWTN News therefore sees Dalić's rosary as a detail that goes beyond sports statistics, while HNS and UEFA in their previews emphasize results, the schedule, players and competitive ambitions. When these two views are combined, they create the picture of a national team that arrives in North America with a double burden: it must justify its reputation on the pitch, while at the same time carrying a story of character that has become part of its international image. The first test comes on 17 June against England, in a match that will immediately show how much legacy, experience and internal cohesion can once again be turned into a result.
Sources:
- EWTN News – article about Zlatko Dalić, the rosary and his earlier statements about faith (link)
- Croatian Football Federation – statements by Zlatko Dalić, Andrej Kramarić and Josip Stanišić for FIFA ahead of the 2026 World Cup (link)
- Croatian Football Federation – player list and schedule of Croatia's matches in Group L (link)
- UEFA – overview of the Croatia national team at the 2026 World Cup, schedule, qualifiers and history of appearances (link)
- FIFA – official information about the 2026 World Cup, hosts, groups and schedule (link)
- Croatian Bureau of Statistics – 2021 Census data on religious affiliation in Croatia (link)