I agree that Croatia aren't one of the teams to be underestimated at all. First of all it is true that they haven't been much successful in Euro tournaments recently. They couldn't even get past 1/8-finals twice in the most recent tournaments. However their performance in the recent two World Cups has been very impressive. First the finale and this time semi finals.
With the player pool they have it isn't impossible for them to have a good success in a Euro tournament also finally. There are really skilled Croatian players now and my expectation level from them has increased by their nice work in the latest World Cup.
They just need to break a leg finally by Euro 2024. They have the potential to play for the finale.
Well.. if they are skilled enough to reach the final of FIFA World Cup in 2018, and semi-final of the 2022 edition, then repeating the same in Euro 2024 is not going to be something that is impossible. In general, most of the UEFA teams are undergoing a decline. Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and Danmark are a few examples. Croatia is one of the few teams (along with France and England) who are moving in the other direction. But I would like to see how they sustain this growth in the long term, given the location of the country within Europe and the extremely small population size.
I agree. At the last EURO, Croatia was unlucky in the first game of the knockout phase of the competition, losing to Spain after extra time.
However, we have won medals at two consecutive world championships, which only France has managed to do, and this is a confirmation of the quality of the Croatian national team, which continuously achieves great results at major competitions, and it can no longer be said that this is a matter of chance or luck.
In the last edition of the League of Nations, Croatia even beat France away from home and won first place in the group ahead of Denmark, France and Austria. Croatia even saved France from being relegated to the lower tier of the competition by beating Austria in the last round of the competition.
So, at the last 3 major competitions, Croatia achieved great results and showed that it has continuity and the necessary quality for the greatest achievements.
I think it's time to stop underestimating Croatia and to show respect for all that they have achieved recently.