BUY UZBEKISTAN 2024 TICKETS
National legends Franco Jelovcic and Dario Marinovic headline Croatia’s 16-man provisional squad for their first FIFA Futsal World Cup™ in 24 years. Marinko Mavrovic will cut two players before they head off to Uzbekistan to face Thailand, Brazil and Cuba in Group B.
Jelovcic and Marinovic have enjoyed elite careers at club level and helped Croatia reach the UEFA Futsal EURO semi-finals in 2012, but have never appeared on the sport’s biggest platform. They are set to do so at the ages of 33 and 34 respectively. Marinovic and Brazil superstar Pito, who will square off in Bukhara on 17 September, are good friends, having played together for ElPozo Murcia.
Other key figures included are goalkeeper Zoran Primic, the multifunctional Kristian Cekol and Luka Peric, who finished as one of the leading marksmen in European qualifying.
Croatia impressed at their first World Cup, beating Australia 6-0 and Costa Rica 4-1 to progress from their first-phase group. They then finished third from four in their second-round section.
The Mini Blazers agonisingly lost on penalties to Czechia in a play-off for a place at Lithuania 2021, but finally ended their wait to return to the global finals by edging Poland 5-4 on aggregate in April in their battle for a ticket to Uzbekistan 2024.
“I wanted to reach the FIFA Futsal World Cup with Croatia so badly, and now finally my dream came true,” Marinovic told FIFA at the time. “The previous failures make this success even sweeter. I’m convinced we’ll make a major impact in Uzbekistan.”
Provisional Croatia squad
Filip Baskovic
Kristian Cekol
Franco Jelovcic
Josip Jurlina
Marko Kuraja
Duje Kustura
Dario Marinovic
David Mataja
Mateo Muzar
Tihomir Novak
Luka Peric
Ante Piplica
Kristijan Postruzin
Zoran Primic
Antonio Sekulic
Niko Vukmir
