Sport in Croatia

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Croatia Portal
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Croatian tennis star Goran Ivanišević at Wimbledon, 2004

The most popular team sports have been football, along with handball, water polo and basketball. The most popular sports played mainly by individuals are tennis, skiing, swimming and to some extent table tennis and chess.

Contents

History

Franjo Bučar (1866-1946) is widely considered to be the father of modern Croatian sport. He founded the Croatian Sports Federation in 1909 within what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire.[1]

Sports and leagues

National organizations and leagues exist in Croatia for most popular sports. Some of these include:

National sports teams

The Croatian national handball team in 2010

Some of Croatia's more successful national teams include:

Achievements

Competitions
× International International Club Club
Football World Cup
3rd (1998)
European Championship
Quarter Finals (1996 & 2008)
Champion's League
Quarterfinals Hajduk Split vs Ajax (1994/95)
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Champion
(Dinamo Zagreb)
Handball World Championship
Champion
European Championship
2nd (2)
Champion's League
Champion (3)
Cup Winners' Cup
2nd
Basketball World Championship
3rd
Eurobasket
3rd (2)
Euroleague
Champion (5)
NLB League
Champion
Water Polo World Championship
Champion
European Championship
2nd (2)
LEN Euroleague
Champion (13)
LEN Cup
Champion (2)
Tennis Davis Cup
Champion
World Team Cup
Champion
N/A N/A

Individual sports

Janica Kostelić, considered to be one of the greatest female skiers of all time.
Marin Čilić , rising tennis player

Croatian athletes have had considerable success in individual sports as well, where they represented Croatia in international competitions at the highest level. These sports include:

Olympic Games

Croatia has participated in the following Summer Olympic Games to date:

Croatia has participated in the following Winter Olympic Games to date:

Future sporting events

Croatia is in the process of rapidly modernising and expanding its sporting arenas, as it prepares to host the 2009 World Men's Handball Championship. The nation's arenas are primarily used for handball and basketball games.

The country also competed for hosting the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship in a joint bid with Hungary, planning a similar process of building and modernization of the nation's four largest football stadiums (in Zagreb, Split, Rijeka and Osijek), but the bid failed due to certain elements in both countries.

See also

References

  1. ^ Who was Franjo Bučar?

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