Yugoslavia- The Greatest International Team That Never Was

‘The Greatest International Team That Never Was’ by Michael Hamlen

The 1990s was the decade that changed football. The ‘product’ that you either view on television subscription services, on the internet or in all-seater stadia all result from decisions and avenues chosen in the 1990s. The football phone ins or football podcasts that have evolved in the last few years all have their roots in the 1990s.

The money that started flowing into the game, sponsorship deals, player transfer fees and commercialism on a scale unimaginable before, all started on the back of Italia 90, but these changes not only affected the domestic game here in England, it started a revolution all around the world and the Premier League had to play catch up with Serie A and La Liga for a while.

All of these above changes can be debated in great depth on their own, but events off the field in the 1990’s in Yugoslavia were to have massive effects on the field not just domestically, but on the Yugoslav national team and possibly deprive the world of ‘The Greatest International Team That Never Was’.

Collapse of Yugoslavia

The collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe in 1989 effected many former Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe, but in truth Yugoslavia had been slowing collapsing since the death of Marshall Tito, their wartime leader and founder of post-1945 Yugoslavia back in 1980. The collapse of Yugoslavia is complicated and the images of war back in the 1990s are hard to forget, but Yugoslavia was basically a collection of different ethnic groups held together in a state originally created in 1919, but emerged after the Second World War as a Communist nation held together by the policy of ‘Brotherhood and Unity’ across 6 republics and enforced by the state.

Historically many of these ethnic groups had had their own states over the previous 500 years but had been swallowed up by the great European empires, which collapsed after World War 1. After the death of Tito, the call for nationalism in these ethnic groups grew and grew. Primarily led by the ethnic Serbs under the leadership of Slobodan Milosevic in 1987 and the ‘no one will dare beat you’ speech in Kosovo. Ethnic tensions grew and the other ethnic groups countered the Serbs actions. The Slovenes and Croats were especially frightened of living in a Serb dominated Yugoslavia as these were the richest republics and feared losing their wealth to the Serbs. The case for war was set.

The Yugoslavian wars officially started in 1991 when Slovenia and Croatia both decided to leave the Serb dominated Yugoslavia and become independent it their own right. The war in Slovenia only lasted 10 days as Slovenia only had a very small Serb population, which meant the Serb dominated Yugoslavian government wasn’t interested in keeping this republic.

Croatia on the other hand was a different issue due to the large number of Serbs who lived there. Croatia and the Serb dominated Yugoslavia went to war, which ended in a ceasefire in late 1991, but only after the Serbs gained a large portion of the country and administered it separately. Croatia eventually won this territory back in 1995, but in early 1992 both the Croatian leadership and the Serbian leadership decided to carve up Bosnia for themselves and not give the Muslim population the right to have an independent nation themselves. The Bosnian Muslims did in fact vote for independence, but as Bosnia’s ethnic population was more evenly spread between the Muslims, Serbs and Croats war again was inevitable and war broke out in March 1992, but this war was far more devastating in terms of lives lost, the term ethnic cleansing was born and international intervention was needed to end the war in 1995.

The Yugoslavian wars created 5 new independent states in 1991-1992. Serbia & Montenegro (FR Yugoslavia), Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, and Macedonia. Another 2 republics became fully independent states in the 21^st century. Montenegro stayed aligned to Serbia until 2006 when it became fully independent. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and has been recognised by 97 nations although Serbia still disputes this and has not recognised its independence from Serbia. Macedonia renamed itself in 2019 and became North Macedonia.

Ironically, on the football pitch between 1987-1992 Yugoslavia was going through a golden period, which would unfortunately come to a tragic end and deprive the football world possibly the greatest International football team on the eve of Euro 92 and later USA 1994 and beyond.

1987 FIFA World Youth Championship

The first signs that something was happening on the football pitch was at the FIFA World Youth Championships in 1987 that were held in Chile. Yugoslavia sent a team more in hope and making up the numbers, but ended up winning the tournament and introduced to the world players such as Robert Prosinecki, Zvonimir Boban, Davor Suker, Igor Stimac and Predrag Mijatovic.

Yugoslavia won all their group games beating the hosts Chile 4-2, Australia 4-0 and Togo 4-1. Yugoslavia beat Brazil 2-1 in the Quarter Final and then beat East Germany 2-1 in the Semi Finals. Yugoslavia faced West Germany in the Final and beat them in a penalty shootout after the game finished 1-1. Yugoslavia scored 22 goals in that tournament and Robert Prosinecki was awarded player of the tournament.

The Yugoslav domestic league was also strong in the late 1980’s. Not only was there a lot of natural talent in the league, but the fact that players could not leave Yugoslavia and join any other European team until they were at least over 27, meant that youth talent was natured and developed in the Yugoslav league instead of been sold aboard at an early age. Clubs such as Hajduk Split, Dinamo Zagreb, Partisan Belgrade and the biggest club Red Star Belgrade all benefited from this rule and all challenged for the league title and domestic cup and had the hold on the best players in Yugoslavia.

1990 U21 European Championships

Something of a forgotten tournament for Yugoslavia is the 1990 U21 European Championship. Yugoslavia qualified ahead of France, Norway and Scotland in Group 5 and went through to a three stage knockout tournament consisting of eight teams. The quarter final and semi final’s were both held over two legs before Italia 90 with the final being held after Italia 90 over two legs. All games were held as home and away games in their respective country and not held in one country. This format seems very bizarre looking back at it especially with the final held after a World Cup.

Yugoslavia going into this tournament were a much fancied team especially after their performance in the FIFA World Youth Championship in 1987. The majority of this squad featured in the 1987 Championship with Prosinecki, Boksic and Suker all scoring for Yugoslavia as they beat Bulgaria over two legs 3-0 in the quarter final. Yugoslavia then beat a strong Italian team featuring many players that would emerge throughout the 1990s such as Diego Fuser, Gianluigi Lentini, Pierluigi Casiraghi, Marco Simone and Alessandro Costacurta on away goals in a 2-2 draw over two legs in the Semi Final. Suker and Boban scored both Yugoslavia’s goals. The final was held in September 1990 two months after Italia 90 had finished and surprisingly Yugoslavia lost 7-3 to the Soviet Union over two legs. Suker, Boksic and Jarni scored for Yugoslavia.

Several of the Soviet players who played over the two legs did go on to play international football in the 1990s, but definitely did not fulfil this potential on the full international stage. This was made harder as the Soviet Union split into a number of countries post 1991 and these players similar to Yugoslavia found themselves in different countries and playing against each other.

Italia 90 and Boban

Internationally, Yugoslavia failed to qualify for Euro 1988 coming 2^nd in their qualifying group behind England, but they subsequently qualified for Italia 90. Yugoslavia qualified as the winners of their qualifying group. They were unbeaten throughout this campaign and qualified alongside Scotland at the expense of France in their group. Yugoslavia went to Italia 90 not as one of the favourites, but as lots of experts darkhorses due to their performances in qualifying and the young talent that was beginning to show their potential on the international stage.

Unfortunately, Zvonimir Boban was suspended for Italia 90 due to kicking a policeman in the ill-fated match between Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star Belgrade on the 13^th May 1990. This match is seen by many as the start of the Yugoslav wars as the rioting between both sets of fans was in many ways a backdrop to what would happen across Yugoslavia in the coming years.

The match took place just after the first multi-party elections in fifty years were held in Croatia and parties favouring Croatian independence had fared well. The Serbian fans of Red Star Belgrade led by Zeliko Raznatovic (also known as Arkan) who was to become a Serbian war criminal in the Yugoslavian wars went to Zagreb with 3,000 fans and trouble was inevitable.

The visiting Red Star Serbian fans started rioting in the stadium during the match and the police on duty who happened to be Serbian not Croatian, although the match was in held in Croatia turned a blind eye and let the trouble start. The Croatian Zagreb fans retaliated and then the police started on the Croatian Zagreb fans. The Red Star Belgrade players had hurriedly ran off the pitch, but a few Dinamo Zagreb players were still on the pitch including Boban who ran over and kicked a policeman to the ground who was attacking a Zagreb fan on the pitch.

It was later revealed that the policeman was actually a Muslim and not Serbian, but the myth was born and this instantly made Boban a Croatian hero, and later said he did it for ‘Croatia’. Unfortunately for Boban as Yugoslavia was still officially a country the Yugoslav authorities came down hard on Boban and banned him from football for 6 months, which meant missing Italia 90.

Even without Boban, Yugoslavia still sent a squad to Italia 90 containing many players that were part of the 1987 World Youth Championship winning squad and 1990 U21 squad that had qualified for the final, but Yugoslavia’s full squad also contained more experienced players such as Faruk Hadzibegic, Safet Susic, Srecko Katanec, Zlatko Vujovic, Darko Pancev and their star player Dragan Stojkovic.

Yugoslavia were placed in Group D at Italia 90 alongside West Germany, Columbia, and the UAE. Yugoslavia’s first match against a Lother Matthaus inspired West Germany resulted in a 4-1 defeat, but subsequent wins over Columbia (1-0) and the UAE (4-1) pitted them against Spain in the Second round. The match against Spain is best remembered for Dragan Stojkovic’s 2 stunning goals and his sublime performance in a 2-1 win after extra time. This is the game that underlined the then Marseille owner Bernard Tapie’s decision to lure him away from Red Star Belgrade and replace Enzo Francescoli. Stojkovic subsequently joined Tapie’s star studded Marseille team after Italia 90, although the transfer went through just before the tournament.

Yugoslavia now faced Argentina and Diego Maradona in the quarter final. The match finished 0-0 and Argentina won on penalties, but the fact that Yugoslavia even got to a penalty shootout after playing with 10 men since the 31st min after defender Sabanadzovic was sent off for 2 bookable offences was an achievement in itself. A number of the 1987 Youth World Championship winning squad did play in this tournament, but they were mainly used as substitutes as the manager Ivica Osim favoured experienced and trusted players. Yugoslavia established itself at this World Cup as an exciting team, full of potential and one that would only get better throughout the 1990’s.

Red Star Belgrade and 1991

The biggest moment for Yugoslav football during this period happened on the 29^th May 1991 when Red Star Belgrade beat the much fancied and star-studded line up of Marseille on penalties. Ironically star player Dragon Stojkovic had left Red Star in the summer of 1990 to join Marseille, but due to a serious injury sustained in the first few months after his transfer, he wasn’t fully fit and came on as a 2^nd half substitute and refused to take a penalty against his former team. The match itself is famous for being a boring and dull final when it promised so much. But the fact that Red Star Belgrade beat Marseille and then beat Colo Colo in the Intercontinental final 3-0 in December 1991 is remarkable for the fact that apart from defender Miodrag Belodedici (who himself was a Romanian defector and had won the European cup in 1986 with Steaua Bucharest) the whole team including the substitute bench and manager were Yugoslavian.

The Red Star Belgrade team of 1991 is considered one of the greatest ever teams in its own right. The team was built on the experience of the Romanian Belodedici in defence and used the attacking talent of Dejan Savicevic, Robert Prosinecki, and Darko Pancev to get the goals. Vladimir Jugovic was in the midfield plus the free kick talents of Sinisa Mihajovic. Savicevic, Prosinecki, Pancev, Jugovic and Mihajovic would all leave Red Star soon after the Intercontinental Cup final in December 1991 and end up primarily in Italy and Spain, but also France and England during the 1990’s, but these weren’t the only star-studded names in Yugoslavian football at this time.

Euro 92

Yugoslavia started the qualifying campaign for Euro 92 that was to be held in Sweden in Group 4 alongside Denmark, Austria, Northern Ireland and the Faroe Islands. After Italia 1990, Yugoslavia had an embarrassment of talent to call upon for international duty. Apart from the Red Star Belgrade team of Savicevic, Pancev, Prosinecki, Jugovic, Mihajovic that were to become European champions, players such as Alen Boksic, Davor Suker, Zvonimir Boban, Robert Jarni, Predrag Mijatovic, Srecko Katenic and Dragon Stojkovic were all available for Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia subsequently won group 4 and qualified for Euro 92. Yugoslavia were highly fancied for Euro 92, but unfortunately for this generation of players the Yugoslavian wars in what was later to became Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia started in 1991 and 1992 respectively and international sanctions brought against what was left of Yugoslavia, just 10 days before the start of Euro 92, meant Yugoslavia were expelled from the tournament. Their place went to the runners up of group 4, Denmark, who famously were called up ‘from the beach’ to take part in Euro 92 and remarkably won the tournament. As Slovenia and Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia had already declared independence in 1991-1992 the provincial squad for Euro 92 contained only Serbian and Montenegrin players. This considerably weakened the squad but still had players such as Dejan Savicevic, Predrag Mijatovic, Vladimir Jugovic, Sinisa Mihajovic and Dragan Stojkovic available. This is the part when you wonder ‘what if?’

Although Yugoslavia had made an impression on the world stage at Italia 90 and Red Star Belgrade won the European Cup in 1991, they were still an unknown quantity to a degree as Euro 92 was about to begin as the majority of their players still played in Yugoslavia at this time and didn’t play in the top leagues in Europe. Television coverage was still poor at this point in the 1990’s and the internet and social media was all still to come in the future, so information was not as widespread as it is now and one of the only ways to find out the names of players was by sticker books at this time.

Due to UN sanctions in 1992. The former republic of Yugoslavia (FR Yugoslavia) as what was left of Yugoslavia was now called, but in reality it was Serbia and Montenegro were not allowed to re-renter international competition due to the on-going war in Bosnia and were only allowed to enter the qualifying rounds for France 98 after the war in Bosnia finished in 1995. Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Macedonia were also not allowed to participate in the qualifying rounds of USA 1994 but were allowed to re-enter international competition for the qualifying rounds of Euro 1996 to be held in England.

The abundance of talent available to the Yugoslavian national team only really becomes clear when you look at what the players of this generation achieved either at club level when they moved aboard or international level for their new nations later on in the 1990’s, but looking at possible squads for Euro 92, USA 1994, Euro 96 and France 1998. If Yugoslavia did stay together the squad is mind-blowing.

The below list is of players that could have been chosen to represent Yugoslavia (if all the republics stayed together). This would have made the ‘Greatest International Team that never was’.

Goalkeepers

• Tomislav Ivkovic (Croatia) Represented Yugoslavia at Italia 90. Played for Sporting Lisbon, Estoril, Vitoria, Belenenses.
• Dragon Lekovic (FR Yugoslavia) Played Red Star Belgrade, Kilmarnock, Sporting Gijon. Went to Italia  & 90France 98, but didn’t play at either World Cup
• Drazen Ladic (Croatia) Played for Dinamo Zagreb for most of his career and represented Croatia at Euro 96 and France 98

Defence

• Sinisa Mihajovic (FR Yugoslavia) Played for Roma, Sampdoria, Lazio, Inter Milan and represented FR Yugoslavia at France 98 and Euro 2000. He won the European Cup with Red Star in 1991 and won the UEFA Cup Winners Cup and UEFA Super Cup with Lazio in 1999.
• Robert Jarni (Croatia) Played for Bari, Torino, Juventus, Real Betis and Real Madrid. He represented Croatia at Euro 96, France 98 and even at Japan/Korea 2002. He won the Intercontinental Cup with Real Madrid in 1998.
• Igor Stimac (Croatia) Played for Cadiz, Derby County and West Ham and represented Croatia at Euro 96 and France 98.
• Slavan Bilic (Croatia) Played for Karlsruher, West Ham, Everton and represented Croatia at Euro 96 and France 98. Bilic later managed Croatia at Euro 2008.
• Miroslav Djukic (FR Yugoslavia) Played for Deportivo de La Coruna and Valencia. He represented Yugoslavia at France 98 and Euro 2000 and was a Champions League runner up in 2000 and 2001 with Valencia.
• Branko Brnovic (FR Yugoslavia) Played for Espanyol and represented FR Yugoslavia at France 98.
• Nikola Jerkan (Croatia) Played for Real Oviedo and Nottingham Forest and represented Croatia at Euro 96.
• Zoran Mirkovic (FR Yugoslavia) Played for Atlanta, Juventus, Fenerbahce. He represented FR Yugoslavia at France 98, but was suspended for Euro 2000 for grabbing Robert Jarni in a qualifying match against Croatia in Zagreb.
• Ilija Najdoski (Macedonia) Won European Cup with Red Star Belgrade in 1991 and went on to play for Real Valladolid, but never represented Macedonia at a major championship as Macedonia didn’t qualify.

Midfield

• Dragan Stojkovic (FR Yugoslavia) Played for Marseille, Verona and Nagoya Grampus Eight. Widely considered one of Yugoslavia’s best ever players, but injury meant he never showed his best form in Europe, he is best remembered for his time in Japan under Arsene Wenger. Stojkovic represented FR Yugoslavia at France 98 and Euro 2000.
• Robert Prosinecki (Croatia) Won the European Cup with Red Star Belgrade and went on to play for Real Madrid, Real Oviedo, Barcelona, Sevilla. He represented Croatia at Euro 96, France 98 and Japan/Korea 2002 and is widely considered one of the most talented players of the 1990s.
• Zvonimir Boban (Croatia) Transferred to Bari, but is best known for playing for A.C Milan and won the Champions League in 1994. He presented Croatia at Euro 96 and at France 98.
• Vladimir Jugovic (FR Yugoslavia) Played for Sampdoria, Juventus, Lazio, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and Monaco. He won the European Cup with Red Star Belgrade in 1991 and the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup all with Juventus in 1996. Played for FR Yugoslavia at France 98 and Euro 2000.
• Ajlosa Asanovic (Croatia) Played for a Metz, Cannes, Montpellier, but is best known for playing for Derby County in the Premier League and then played for Napoli and Panathinaikos. Played for Croatia at Euro 96 and France 98.
• Dejan Savicevic (FR Yugoslavia) Won the European Cup with Red Star Belgrade in 1991 and played for A.C Milan and won the Champions League in 1994 alongside Zvonimir Boban. He played for FR Yugoslavia at France 98
• Slavisa Jokanovic (FR Yugoslavia) Played for Real Oviedo, Tenerife, Deportivo La Coruna, Chelsea. Played for FR Yugoslavia at France 98 and Euro 2000.
• Mario Stanic (Croatia) Played for Sporting Gijon, Benfica, Club Brugge, Parma and Chelsea. Won UEFA Cup with Parma and represented Croatia at Euro 96, France 98 and Korea/Japan 2002.

Strikers

• Darko Pancev (Macedonia) Won the European Cup with Red Star Belgrade and won the European Golden Boot in 1991. He was widely considered to be the best striker in Europe and transferred to Inter Milan. Unfortunately, Pancev did not settle at Inter Milan as the coach did not rate him and did not settle due to the style of play in Serie A and disagreements with the coaching staff. Unfortunately, Pancev did not appear at a major championship due to Macedonia not qualifying.
• Davor Suker (Croatia) Played for Sevilla, Real Madrid, Arsenal, West Ham and 1860 Munich. Won the Champions League and Intercontinental Cup in 1998 with Real Madrid. Played for Croatia at Euro 96 and France 98 and won the Golden Boot with 6 goals at this tournament.
• Alen Boksic (Croatia) Played for Cannes, Marseille, Lazio, Juventus, returned to Lazio and finished his career with Middlesbrough in the Premier League. Won the European Cup in 1993 with Marseille, the Intercontinental Cup in 1996 with Juventus and the Cup Winners Cup in 1999 with Lazio. Played for Croatia at Euro 96, missed France 98 with injury, but did play at Japan/Korea 2002.
• Predrag Mijatovic (FR Yugoslavia) Played for Valencia, Real Madrid, Fiorentina and Levante. Won the Champions League in 1998 with Real Madrid and scored the only goal. Played for FR Yugoslavia at France 98 and Euro 2000.
• Meho Kodro (Bosnia) Played for Real Sociedad, Barcelona, Tenerife. Unfortunately didn’t win any major honours and never got to represent Bosnia at a major championship as Bosnia never qualified. Kodro scored 105 goals in La Liga in 263 appearances.

USA 94 & Euro 96

Before Yugoslavia were suspended from international competition in 1992, they were originally drawn in Group 5 for the qualifying round of USA 94. They were drawn with the Soviet Union, Hungary, Greece, Iceland and Luxembourg. The Soviet Union’s place was taken by Russia as ironically the Soviet Union itself collapsed 17 days after the draw took place on the 8^th December 1991. With 2 teams qualifying from this group, it is almost certain Yugoslavia would have qualified for USA 94 looking at the group of players available for selection. USA 94, isn’t a World Cup fondly remembered, mainly because England didn’t qualify, but the fact that Sweden and Bulgaria reached the semi-finals alongside Italy and the eventual winners Brazil highlights the strong chance Yugoslavia had of achieving something special at this World Cup, if it stayed together.

Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia were allowed to enter the qualification stages for Euro 96. FR Yugoslavia were still suspended due to UN Sanctions mainly due to the Bosnian war still taking place. Macedonia were drawn in Group 2 alongside Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Cyprus and Armenia and unfortunately, they came 4^th. Croatia and Slovenia were drawn together in Group 4 alongside Italy but also with fellow new nations Ukraine, Lithuania and Estonia. Croatia won Group 4 on goal difference and qualified with Italy both on 23 points. The highlight of this qualifying campaign was a 2-1 away victory against Italy in Palermo with Davor Suker getting both goals.

Croatia went to Euro 96 full of optimism and with a great sense of patriotism as a new nation. Croatia were still seen as a bit of an unknown entity as Euro 96 was about to start. But with Robert Prosinecki and Zvonimir Boban in midfield and Davor Suker and Alen Boksic up front Croatia had enough quality to compete on the world stage. Croatia were drawn in Group D alongside Portugal, Denmark and Turkey. Croatia beat Turkey 1-0 in their opening game and beat Denmark 3-0 in their next game to qualify. Davor Suker’s chip over Peter Schmeichel against Denmark is one of the classic moments of this championship and 1990’s football. Croatia lost 3-0 to Portugal in their final group game to set up a quarter final against Germany which unfortunately they lost 2-1. Germany went on to beat the Czech Republic in the final, but Croatia had announced themselves on the international stage and went into the qualifying stage for France 98 as a team that feared no one.

France 98

Croatia were drawn in Group 1 for the qualifying round of France 98 alongside Slovenia, Bosnia (making its debut), Denmark and Greece. Croatia came 2^nd and had to face Ukraine in a play off which they won 3-1 to qualify with Denmark winning the group. In doing so Denmark got revenge for their 3-0 defeat to Croatia at Euro 96 with a 3-1 victory in Copenhagen over Croatia. Bosnia finished 3^rd in the group and Slovenia finished 4^th, both did not qualify. Macedonia finished 4^th in Group 8 behind Romania and the Republic of Ireland. Serbia and Montenegro playing under the name FR Yugoslavia were allowed to re-enter international competition and were drawn in Group 6 alongside Spain, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Faroe Islands and Malta. The group winners were Spain, but the FR Yugoslavia came 2^nd and finished ahead of the beaten finalists of Euro 96 the Czech Republic. FR Yugoslavia had to play Hungary in the play offs and amazingly beat them 12-1 on aggregate. FR Yugoslavia won 7-1 in Budapest with Mijatovic scoring a hat-trick and then beat Hungary 5-0 in Belgrade with Mijatovic getting another 4 goals.

Both Croatia and FR Yugoslavia qualified for France 98. FR Yugoslavia were drawn in Group F with Germany, Iran and the USA. The FR Yugoslavia squad included a number of players that went to Italia 90 when Yugoslavia was still a unified country and would have gone to Euro 92 and USA 94 had it been allowed to participate. Dejan Savicevic, Sinisa Mjahjovic, Predrag Mijatovic, Vladimir Jugovic and Dragan Stojkovic were all able to participate in a major championship again after a period of 8 years. Unfortunately, this gap meant some of these players notably Stojkovic were past their peak, but they were still world class players. FR Yugoslavia qualified 2^nd in their group behind Germany on goal difference. This meant they faced a tough 2^nd round match against Holland. Unfortunately, they met a Dutch team that included Edwin van der Sar, Jaap Stam, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert and Dennis Bergkamp and lost 2-1. That Dutch team was in many ways similar to the Yugoslavian team of Italia 90. Holland had a number of young players that came through at Ajax at the same time and won the Champions League in 1995. That Ajax team was split up and sold around Italy, Spain and England, but as an international team they were a force to be reckoned with, but they also didn’t deliver their full potential, but this is another debate for another time. A number of the FR Yugoslavia squad would again participate in Euro 2000.

Croatia were drawn in Group H alongside Argentina, Japan and Jamaica. Croatia qualified 2^nd behind Argentina after losing to them 1-0 in their final group game, but victories over Jamaica and Japan meant they had already qualified before the final game. Croatia went on to play Romania in the 2^nd round and unlike the FR Yugoslavia they won this game 1-0 thanks to a goal from Davor Suker. Croatia then met Germany in the quarter finals and shocked the world with a 3-0 victory to eliminate Germany and set up a Semi-final clash against France in Paris. Davor Suker scored first, but 2 goals from Lilian Thuram (his only international goals) saw the home nation win 2-1. Croatia then played Holland in the 3^rd/4^th place play off and thanks to goals from Prosinecki and Suker gave Croatia a 2-1 victory and finish 3^rd at their 1^st World Cup. Suker’s goal in this game meant he won the Golden Boot with 6 goals one more than Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina) and Christian Vieri (Italy).

Croatia and the FR Yugoslavia were drawn in the same qualifying group for Euro 2000 (Group 8). FR Yugoslavia won the group and the Republic of Ireland came 2^nd who went into the play offs. Croatia came 3^rd and surprisingly on the back of their World Cup performance did not qualify for Euro 2000. FR Yugoslavia qualified from their group alongside Spain, but faced Holland again in the 2^nd round. This game wasn’t as close as France 98 as FR Yugoslavia lost 6-1. Croatia qualified for Japan/Korea 2002, but a number of the players who were so successful and talented in the 1990’s, had either retired or were past their peak notably Prosinecki and Jarni. FR Yugoslavia didn’t qualify for Japan/Korea 2002 as again the players of the Yugoslav golden generation had either retired or past their peak.

In reflection, the showing of Croatia at Euro 96 and the performance of both Croatia and FR Yugoslavia at France 98 only goes to prove that the world was deprived of possibly the greatest international team on the eve of Euro 92 and the golden generation of Yugoslavia never reached its full potential due to the civil war and how the country imploded. 

Yugoslavia had a great chance at Euro 92 due to players originally available to them, but even after the Croatian, Slovenian and Macedonian players were withdrawn the squad was still very strong. The winners, Denmark were Yugoslavia’s replacement, so Yugoslavia had a very good chance of winning that tournament. USA 1994 was in many ways Yugoslavia’s big chance to win on the world stage.

If Yugoslavia stayed together, the majority of the golden generation were either at their peak on about to hit their peak in the next few years. The squad they could of chosen was full of world class talent and looking at the opposition for the qualifying group they were originally drawn with for USA 94 and how USA 94 unravelled, Yugoslavia had a better squad than Sweden and Bulgaria who both made the semi finals. Italy’s squad relied heavily on Roberto Baggio, who was not fully fit and Brazil the eventual winners had a far less talented team than previous Brazilian teams. This was Yugoslavia’s big chance.

Euro 96 would again have been a massive opportunity for Yugoslavia as Croatia qualified and performed really well in their first championships, but only had half of the original team that could have gone to Euro 96. The same is said for France 98. Croatia came 3^rd and FR Yugoslavia qualified after being readmitted into international football and finished in the final 16. The players for both countries effectively grew up in the same country, played for the same country up to 1991 and could if Yugoslavia stayed unified ruled the 1990s like Spain did from 2008-2012. The talent available to the original Yugoslavia was clear to see, you only have to look at what those players achieved with their clubs and what those 2 countries achieved at Euro 96 and France 98 on their own plus players from Macedonia, Slovenia and Bosnia that would have been available. What would have happened if Yugoslavia stayed together? ‘The Greatest International Team That Never Was’

Michael Hamlen

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