The Croatian national football team has played in international tournaments as a national team since Croatia's independence in 1990-1992 and is controlled by the Croatian Football Federation. The team played in their first major tournament in 1996 and has been a strong force in international soccer ever since. Finishing third in the 1998 World Cup against all Sportsbook odds, led by Golden Boot winner Davor ?uker. They have qualified for every World Cup that they have entered as an independent nation. Between October 17, 1990 and March 1, 2006, Croatia has played 141 international games and had 71 victories, 42 draws and 28 losses. The team has been FIFA's "Best Mover of the Year" in 1994 and 1998
Soccer is probably the most popular sport in Poland. Over 400,000 Poles play soccer regularly, millions more play soccer sometimes. The first professional clubs were founded in the early 1900s and the Polish national soccer team played its first international match in 1921. There are hundreds of professional and amateur soccer teams in Poland. The soccer teams are organized into the national 1st league and 2nd league, 4 regional 3rd leagues, 19 regional 4th leagues, 49 regional 5th leagues and many more lower level leagues. There are also Polish Cup and Polish Supercup competitions. The Poland national soccer team (Polish: polska reprezentacja narodowa) is the national soccer team of Poland and is controlled by the Polish Football Association. It played its first international match on 18 December 1921 in Budapest against Hungary and was defeated 0:1. Poland won the Gold medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, the Silver medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. In the World Cup, Poland finished third twice: in 1974 and 1982. |
