Croatia–Italy football rivalry
The Croatia–Italy football rivalry is a football rivalry between the national football teams of Croatia and Italy, sometimes known as the Adriatic derby, a name that it shares with the rivalry between Hajduk Split and Rijeka.[1][2][3] Croatia has not lost against Italy since 1942, with most of the fixtures played in qualifications and at tournaments.[4][5] At the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Croatia came from behind to beat Italy 2–1 in a controversial game, after two Italian goals were disallowed.[6] During the Euro 2016 qualifying phase, Croatia and Italy played each other twice, drawing both times.[7] The first match was marred by crowd trouble due to flares being thrown onto the pitch, which also occurred when the two teams met at the UEFA Euro 2012.
 Location of Croatia (green) and Italy (orange) | |
| Other names | Derby Adriatico |
|---|---|
| Locale | Europe (UEFA) |
| Teams |   |
| First meeting | Italy 4–0 Croatia Friendly (5 April 1942) |
| Latest meeting | Croatia 1–1 Italy UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying (12 June 2015) |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 9 |
| Most wins | Croatia (3) |
| Top scorer | Davor Šuker (3) |
| All-time series | Croatia: 3 Draw: 5 Italy: 1 |
| Largest victory | Italy 4–0 Croatia Friendly (5 April 1942) |
| Largest goal scoring | Italy 4–0 Croatia Friendly (5 April 1942) |
List of matches
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History at major tournaments
2002 FIFA World Cup
Two nations faced each other at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea. They were drawn in the Group G along with Mexico and Ecuador. In their second group match, Italy took the lead in 55th minute after Christian Vieri scored, but Croatia made a comeback by goals from Ivica Olić in 73rd and Milan Rapaić in 76th minute. Even though Croatia won, Italy finished second in the group with a point more than Croatia and thus entered knockout stage where they were eliminated by South Korea.
2012 UEFA Euro
Croatia and Italy met in the group stage of UEFA Euro 2012 along with Spain and Republic of Ireland. Andrea Pirlo scored a free kick in 39th minute for Italy's lead and Croatians equalised through Mario Mandžukić in 72nd. Italy finished second in the Group C with 5 points, one more than third Croatia. Italy reached the final where they once again played against Spain to whom they lost 4–0.
Statistics
Overall
| Matches | Wins | Draws | Goals | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Croatia | Italy | Croatia | Italy | |||
| FIFA World Cup | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| UEFA European Championship | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 5 |
| All competitions | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 6 |
| Friendly | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| All matches | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 10 |
References
- "Quanti incroci: Italia e Croazia, la storia infinita". Sky Sport Italia. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "Parla Boban: "Italia, riscopri l'arte di Rivera e Baggio"". La Gazzetta dello Sport. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "Kroatien bleibt Italiens Angstgegner". Tiroler Tageszeitung. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "Jadranski derbi završio remijem u sjeni svastike". Index.hr. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "Vatreni duel jadranskih susjeda". N1. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- Federation, UEFA (July 15, 2018). "Italy's competitive record against Croatia in football". worldfootball.net. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
- Editorial, Reuters (June 10, 2015). "Croatia and Italy clash in empty stadium". Reuters. Retrieved July 15, 2018.