Croatia announce 26-man World Cup squad as decisions made on Modric and Gvardiol

Croatia have announced their official 26-man squad for the upcoming FIFA World Cup, with the side set to face England in their opening match.

On Monday (May 18), 2018 finalists Croatia confirmed their 26-man squad for the North American tournament, with several well-known current and former Premier League players included, while a decision has also been made on 40-year-old Luka Modric after the AC Milan midfielder fractured his cheekbone last month.

Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol’s selection was also in doubt after he missed most of the second half of the season with a broken leg before making his first start since January in the 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on May 13.

However, head coach Zlatko Dalic has in fact selected the City man as one of his seven defenders, while Modric, who helped the nation reach the final in 2018 and the semi-finals in 2022, has also been included despite undergoing surgery on the cheekbone fracture. The tournament will be Modric’s fifth World Cup.

Speaking about Modric, the Croatia boss said: “He’s training with a [facial] mask and doing well. Maybe this break helped him.

“We’ll see his condition, but I don’t doubt him. He’ll be in good form.”

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On Gvardiol, he added: “We hope he’ll be ready to play. We expect him to be a major boost for us in the US.”

City midfielder Mateo Kovacic and Hull City goalkeeper Ivor Pandur are the other England-based players in the squad, while former Spurs winger Ivan Perisic – currently plying his trade at PSG – and ex-Everton and West Ham man Nikola Vlasic – now at Torino – also made the cut.

La Liga’s third-highest goalscorer Ante Budimir, who currently plays for Osasuna, also made the squad.

Croatia face England on June 17 before taking on Panama on June 24 and Ghana on June 27.

Croatia's 2026 World Cup squad

Goalkeepers

• Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb)
• Dominik Kotarski (Copenhagen)
• Ivor Pandur (Hull City)

Defenders

• Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City)
• Duje Caleta-Car (Real Sociedad)
• Josip Sutalo (Ajax Amsterdam)
• Josip Stanisic (Bayern Munich)
• Marin Pongracic (Fiorentina)
• Martin Erlic (Midtjylland)
• Luka Vuskovic (Hamburg)

Midfielders

• Luka Modric (AC Milan)
• Mateo Kovacic (Manchester City)
• Mario Pasalic (Atalanta)
• Nikola Vlasic (Torino)
• Luka Sucic (Real Sociedad)
• Martin Baturina (Como)
• Kristijan Jakic (Augsburg)
• Petar Sucic (Inter Milan)
• Nikola Moro (Bologna)
• Toni Fruk (Rijeka)

Forwards

• Ivan Perisic (PSV Eindhoven)
• Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim)
• Ante Budimir (Osasuna)
• Marco Pasalic (Orlando City)
• Petar Musa (Dallas)
• Igor Matanovic (Freiburg)