CROATIA : WORLD CUP HISTORY

Croatia could not have asked for a better World Cup debut. The Eastern European side went all the way to the France '98 semifinals before eventual champion France prevailed, 2-1. Still, it was one great run. The Croatians went 2-1 in the opening round, defeating Jamaica, 3-1, and Japan, 1-0, before falling to Argentina, 1-0. They blanked Romania in the second round, 1-0, and Germany in the quarterfinals, 3-0. Croatia finished third, besting the Netherlands, 2-1, in the third-place match as Davor Suker wound up as the tournament's top scorer with six goals.

In 2002, the degree of difficulty became much greater as the Croatians failed to get out of their group -- which included Italy and Mexico -- with a 1-2 record. The killer was a 1-0 loss to lowly Ecuador, because they went on to upend Italy, 2-1. But when push came to shove, the Mexicans pushed Croatia out of the World Cup door with a 1-0 result.