Croatia men's national basketball team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Croatia women's national basketball team.

Croatia
FIBA ranking32 Steady (25 February 2025)[1]
Joined FIBA1992
FIBA zoneFIBA Europe
National federationHKS
CoachTomislav Mijatović
Nickname(s)Kockasti
(The Chequered Ones)
Olympic Games
Appearances4
MedalsSilver Silver: (1992)
FIBA World Cup
Appearances3
MedalsBronze Bronze: (1994)
EuroBasket
Appearances14
MedalsBronze Bronze: (1993, 1995)
First international
 Germany 86–74  
(Murcia, Spain; 22 June 1992)[2]
Biggest win
  124–51 Iceland 
(Murcia, Spain; 24 June 1992)
Biggest defeat
  70–103 United States 
(Barcelona, Spain; 27 July 1992)
Medal record
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1992 Barcelona Team
FIBA World Cup
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Canada
EuroBasket
Bronze medal – third place 1993 Germany
Bronze medal – third place 1995 Greece
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place 2009 Pescara Team
Silver medal – second place 1993 Languedoc-Roussillon Team

The Croatia men's national basketball team (Croatian: Hrvatska košarkaška reprezentacija)[3] represents Croatia in international basketball matches. The team is controlled by the Croatian Basketball Federation (HKS).[4]

The biggest success Croatia has achieved was at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics when the team reached the final against the United States and won the silver medal. Croatia has also won one bronze medal at the FIBA World Cup and two bronze medals at EuroBasket.

Croatia's Krešimir Ćosić, Dražen Petrović, Dino Rađa, Mirko Novosel and Toni Kukoč are members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Ćosić was inducted in 1996, Petrović in 2002, Rađa in 2018 and Kukoč in 2021, all as players. Novosel was inducted in 2007 as a coach. Petrović, Ćosić, Kukoč and Novosel are members of the FIBA Hall of Fame. Ćosić is also the only Croatian to have received the FIBA Order of Merit. Ćosić, however, never played for the Croatia national team. As he was only a member of the Yugoslavia national team, holding the record for number of medals (including Olympic gold) and the most games played by a player.

History

Prior to Croatian independence

Croatia played its first unofficial friendly game on 2 June 1964 in Karlovac.[5] Croatian team played against US All Star Team and lost 65–110 (31–50). USA players coached by Red Auerbach were Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, K. C. Jones, Jerry Lucas, Bob Pettit, Oscar Robertson and Bill Russell and Croatian team was Giuseppe Gjergja, Nemanja Đurić, Živko Kasun, Zlatko Kiseljak, Slobodan Kolaković, Dragan Kovačić, Boris Križan, Stjepan Ledić, Mirko Novosel, Marko Ostarčević, Petar Skansi and Željko Troskot.[6][7]

Independent Croatia

After independence of Croatia in 1991, the first official tournament played by Croatians were the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Croatia defeated the CIS team 75–74 and reached the final against the USA Dream Team led by Michael Jordan. The USA won 85–117, but Croatia won its first medal at a major tournament in history.[8]

The next competition for Croatia was the 1993 EuroBasket in Germany. Tragically, before the tournament Dražen Petrović died in a car accident on 7 June 1993 at the age of 28. Croatia still managed to reach the bronze medal game to defeat Greece 99–59.[9]

Croatia earned its third medal at the 1994 FIBA World Cup in Canada. Croatia lost their semi-finals match against Russia 64–66, but beat Greece once again 78–60 for the bronze medal. A similar occurrence happened at the EuroBasket 1995 in Greece. Croatia lost in the semi-finals 80–90 against Lithuania, but beat Greece 73–68 for the third time in a row in a bronze medal match. That medal to date was the last Croatian medal from any major tournament. At the 1996 Summer Olympics Croatia finished in a subpar seventh place.[10]

Decline

At the EuroBasket 1997 in Spain, the new Croatian generation emerged, but ended in 11th place. Croatia failed to qualify for the 2000, 2004 and 2012 Summer Olympics, but finished sixth in 2008. Croatia also failed to qualify for the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups. Although the team did manage to qualify in 2010, before falling in the Round of 16. However, at the EuroBasket 2013, Croatia had its best tournament appearance since 1995, where the team finished in fourth place.[11]

Honours

The Croatia national team's all-time medal table:

Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
Summer Olympics 0 1 0 1
FIBA World Cup 0 0 1 1
EuroBasket 0 0 2 2
Mediterranean Games 1 1 0 2
Stanković Cup 2 1 0 3
Total 3 3 3 9

Competitive record

Results and fixtures

  Win   Loss

2024

21 November 2024   89–76  Bosnia and Herzegovina Zagreb, Croatia
20:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 30–19, 20–29, 23–12, 16–16
Pts: Božić 25
Rebs: Božić 9
Asts: Smith 4 		Boxscore Pts: Gegić 18
Rebs: Gegić 8
Asts: Atić 6 		Arena: Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall
Attendance: 4,000
Referees: Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT), Marius Ciulin (ROU), Gintaras Mačiulis (LTU)
24 November 2024 Bosnia and Herzegovina  110–90   Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
18:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 22–21, 28–29, 33–13, 27–27
Pts: Kamenjaš 21
Rebs: Kamenjaš 10
Asts: Musa 5 		Boxscore Pts: Hezonja 28
Rebs: Hezonja 6
Asts: Božić 6 		Arena: Mirza Delibašić Hall
Attendance: 5,500
Referees: Antonio Conde (ESP), Wojciech Liszka (POL), Gvidas Gedvilas (LTU)

2025

21 February 2025   80–83  France Zadar, Croatia
20:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 17–20, 18–17, 16–22, 29–24
Pts: Hezonja 37
Rebs: Hezonja 11
Asts: Mavra 4 		Boxscore Pts: Okobo 16
Rebs: Massa 7
Asts: Strazel 5 		Arena: Jazine Basketball Hall
Attendance: 2,700
Referees: Manuel Mazzoni (ITA), Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT), Gatis Saliņš (LAT)
24 February 2025 Cyprus  67–104   Nicosia, Cyprus
19:00 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 14–26, 11–22, 18–26, 24–30
Pts: Simitzis 25
Rebs: Willis 8
Asts: Tigkas 7 		Boxscore Pts: Hezonja 40
Rebs: Hezonja 11
Asts: Hezonja, Smith 7 		Arena: Eleftheria Indoor Hall
Attendance: 3,000
Referees: Gvidas Gedvilas (LTU), Andris Aunkrogers (LAT), Mihkel Männiste (EST)
6 August 2025 Norway  68–101   Bergen, Norway
18:00 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 21–20, 18–31, 12–27, 17–23
Pts: Savić 13
Rebs: Savić 7
Asts: Espe, Frey 6 		Boxscore Pts: Hezonja 27
Rebs: Hezonja, Šarić 8
Asts: Šarić 5 		Arena: Åsane Arena
Attendance: 1,075
Referees: Yener Yilmaz (TUR), Ventsislav Velikov (BUL), Geert Jacobs (BEL)
9 August 2025   100–71  Denmark Opatija, Croatia
20:30 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 24–14, 32–29, 21–16, 23–12
Pts: Smith 24
Rebs: Drežnjak 5
Asts: Smith 6 		Boxscore Pts: Dibba 17
Rebs: Berg 5
Asts: three players 3 		Arena: Marino Cvetković Sports Hall
Attendance: 500
Referees: Kerem Baki (TUR), Michał Proc (POL), Zdenko Tomašovič (SVK)
16 August 2025   102–53  Norway Opatija, Croatia
20:30 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 28–14, 34–8, 22–13, 18–18
Pts: Hezonja 21
Rebs: Ružić, Šarić 6
Asts: Šarić 8 		Boxscore Pts: Nordheim, Savić 11
Rebs: Savić 10
Asts: four players 2 		Arena: Marino Cvetković Sports Hall
Attendance: 450
Referees: Martin Horozov (BUL), Andris Aunkrogers (LAT), Zafer Yılmaz (TUR)
20 August 2025 Denmark  76–79   Farum, Denmark
19:00 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 21–12, 17–24, 19–24, 19–19
Pts: Dibba 19
Rebs: Webb 11
Asts: Heede-Andersen 8 		Boxscore Pts: Šarić 30
Rebs: Šarić 8
Asts: Badžim 5 		Arena: Farum Arena
Attendance: 1,763
Referees: Wojciech Liszka (POL), Lorenzo Baldini (ITA), Mihkel Männiste (EST)
28 November 2025   vs.  Cyprus Croatia
--:-- (UTC+1)
Boxscore
1 December 2025 Israel  vs.   Israel
--:-- (UTC+2)
Boxscore

2026

26 February 2026   vs.  Germany Croatia
--:-- (UTC+1)
Boxscore
1 March 2026 Germany  vs.   Germany
--:-- (UTC+1)
Boxscore
3 July 2026 Cyprus  vs.   Cyprus
--:-- (UTC+3)
Boxscore
6 July 2026   vs.  Israel Croatia
--:-- (UTC+2)
Boxscore

Team

Current roster

Roster for the 2027 FIBA World Cup Pre-Qualifiers matches in August 2025 against Norway and Denmark.[12][13]

Croatia men's national basketball team roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
G 3 Jaleen Smith 30 – (1994-11-24)24 November 1994 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Türk Telekom Turkey
PG 4 Mate Kalajžić 27 – (1998-03-15)15 March 1998 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Zadar Croatia
G 7 Luka Krajnović 21 – (2004-04-27)27 April 2004 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Cedevita Junior Croatia
G/F 8 Mario Hezonja (C) 30 – (1995-02-25)25 February 1995 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Real Madrid Spain
F/C 9 Dario Šarić (C) 28 – (1997-04-19)19 April 1997 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Sacramento Kings United States
PG 10 Krešimir Radovčić 28 – (1997-04-19)19 April 1997 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Cibona Croatia
F/C 13 Michael Ružić 18 – (2006-10-04)4 October 2006 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Joventut Spain
F/C 17 Karlo Matković 24 – (2001-03-30)30 March 2001 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) New Orleans Pelicans United States
SG 18 Roko Badžim 27 – (1997-08-18)18 August 1997 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Merkezefendi Turkey
SG 23 Mateo Drežnjak 26 – (1999-03-08)8 March 1999 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Budućnost Montenegro
F 24 David Škara 30 – (1995-02-26)26 February 1995 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Zadar Croatia
C 98 Krešimir Ljubičić 27 – (1998-07-11)11 July 1998 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Arka Gdynia Poland
PF 99 Toni Nakić 26 – (1999-06-01)1 June 1999 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Murcia Spain
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the competition
  • Age – describes age
    on 6 August 2025

Depth chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Dario Šarić Michael Ružić Krešimir Ljubičić
PF Mario Hezonja Toni Nakić Karlo Matković
SF David Škara Roko Badžim
SG Mateo Drežnjak Mate Kalajžić
PG Jaleen Smith Krešimir Radovčić Luka Krajnović

Head coaches

Past rosters

See also: List of Croatia men's national basketball team players

Notable players and coaches

Head-to-head record

Biggest tournament wins

20+ point difference

Olympic Games World Cup EuroBasket
  • +34 vs. Iran (91–57) 2008
  • +33 vs. Australia (98–65) 1992
  • +31 vs. China (109–78) 1996
  • +23 vs. Angola (71–48) 1996
  • +21 vs. Germany (99–78) 1992
  • +51 vs. South Korea (104–53) 1994
  • +32 vs. China (105–73) 1994
  • +31 vs. Canada (92–61) 1994
  • +26 vs. Greece (81–55) 1994
  • +21 vs. Iran (75–54) 2010
  • +20 vs. Cuba (85–65) 1994
  • +20 vs. Tunisia (84–64) 2010
  • +50 vs. Turkey (113–63) 1993
  • +40 vs. Greece (99–59) 1993
  • +38 vs. Czech Republic (107–69) 2017
  • +32 vs. Belgium (106–74) 1993
  • +25 vs. Finland (88–63) 2013
  • +22 vs. Turkey (90–68) 1995
  • +22 vs. Czech Republic (86–64) 1999
  • +22 vs. Ukraine (93–71) 2003
  • +22 vs. Portugal (90–68) 2007
  • +21 vs. Bulgaria (104–83) 1993
  • +21 vs. Great Britain (86–65) 2022
  • +20 vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (98–78) 1993
  • +20 vs. Germany (75–55) 1997

Biggest tournament losses

-20> point difference

Olympic Games World Cup EuroBasket
  • -33 vs. USA (70–103) 1992
  • -32 vs. USA (85–117) 1992
  • -31 vs. USA (71–102) 1996
  • -24 vs. Argentina (53–77) 2008
  • -28 vs. USA (78–106) 2010
  • -28 vs. Spain (40–68) 2013
  • -26 vs. Spain (66–92) 2013
  • -21 vs. Czech Republic (59–80) 2015

Biggest qualification wins

20+ point difference

Olympic qualification World Cup qualification EuroBasket qualification
  • +73 vs. Iceland (124–51) 1992
  • +52 vs. Portugal (109–57) 1992
  • +46 vs. Italy (108–62) 1992
  • +39 vs. Greece (102–63) 1992
  • +32 vs. Sweden (99–67) 2024
  • +31 vs. Belgium (86–55) 2024
  • +23 vs. Slovenia (93–70) 1992
  • +20 vs. Tunisia (72–52) 2016
  • +49 vs. Norway (102–53) 2027
  • +33 vs. Norway (101–68) 2027
  • +29 vs. Denmark (100–71) 2027
  • +27 vs. Romania (90–63) 2019
  • +60 vs. Romania (115–55) 1997
  • +56 vs. Macedonia (128–72) 1993[15]
  • +40 vs. Belarus (112–72) 1993
  • +40 vs. Ireland (89–49) 2025
  • +37 vs. Cyprus (104–67) 2025
  • +36 vs. Luxembourg (98–62) 2025
  • +34 vs. Latvia (113–79) 1993
  • +34 vs. Ireland (95–61) 2025
  • +33 vs. Romania (119–86) 1993
  • +31 vs. Switzerland (84–53) 2025
  • +29 vs. Ukraine (107–78) 1993
  • +29 vs. Cyprus (92–63) 2025
  • +25 vs. Austria (100–75) 2025

See also

References

  1. ^ "FIBA World Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 25 February 2025. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  2. ^ "XIII Olympic Basketball Tournament (Barcelona 1992) Qualifying stage". Linguasport. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Croatia basketball news". eurobasket.com.
  4. ^ Naslovnica – Hrvatski košarkaški savez
  5. ^ "All Star NBA u Šancu 1964". kafotka.net. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  6. ^ "U Šancu haklale NBA zvijezde, a u Draganiću gradili naftnu bušotinu". www.kaportal.hr. Archived from the original on 19 July 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  7. ^ "KARLOVAC: 40 GODINA NBA LIGE U KARLOVCU". Index.hr. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  8. ^ "Croatia at the 1992 Olympic Games". Archive.fiba.com. 8 August 1992. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012.
  9. ^ "Croatia v Greece EuroBasket 1993 Bronze medal game results". Archive.fiba.com. 3 July 1993. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Croatia at the 1996 Olympic Games". Archive.fiba.com. 2 August 1996. Archived from the original on 22 April 2024.
  11. ^ "Croatia at the EuroBasket 2013". Archive.fiba.com. 22 September 2013. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023.
  12. ^ "REPREZENTACIJA: Uskoro pretkvalifikacijske utakmice za SP, izbornik Mijatović objavio popis igrača". hks-cbf.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  13. ^ "Croatia during the 2027 FIBA World Cup European Pre-Qualifiers in August 2025". Retrieved 6 August 2025.
  14. ^ "ACO PETROVIĆ OTIŠAO, A HRVATSKA EKSPRESNO DOBILA NOVOG IZBORNIKA EVO TKO ĆE VODITI REPREZENTACIJU U KVALIFIKACIJAMA ZA SVJETSKO PRVENSTVO!". Jutarnji.hr. 15 September 2017.
  15. ^ "XXVIII European Championship (München 1993) Qualifying stage". Linguasport. Archived from the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
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