Qualifying
Croatia was in Group 8 of UEFA's World Cup qualifications. They played alongside Bulgaria, Hungary, Iceland, Malta, and Sweden. During the course of qualifications, the team remained undefeated. At the end of qualification, the team was tied with Sweden in points. However, Croatia won the tiebreaker based on their head-to-head record (Croatia won both meetings).
The complete results were as follows:
| Results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | |
| Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb |
Hungary | 3:0 | ||
| Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg |
Sweden | 1:0 | ||
| Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb |
Bulgaria | 2:2 | ||
| Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb |
Iceland | 4:0 | ||
| Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb |
Malta | 3:0 | ||
| Vasil Levski Stadium, Sofia |
Bulgaria | 3:1 | ||
| Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík |
Iceland | 3:1 | ||
| Ta' Qali, Ta' Qali |
Malta | 1:1 | ||
| Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb |
Sweden | 1:0 | ||
| Ferenc Puskás Stadium, Budapest |
Hungary | 0:0 | ||
The final standings were the following:
| Final Standings | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | |
| Croatia | 24 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 5 | 16 | |
| Sweden | 24 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 30 | 4 | 26 | |
| Bulgaria | 15 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 17 | 0 | |
| Hungary | 14 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 14 | -1 | |
| Iceland | 4 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 27 | -13 | |
| Malta | 3 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 32 | -28 | |
Read more about this topic: Croatia At The 2006 FIFA World Cup