The Croatian World Club Championship is a

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

sanctioned international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

tournament for

Croatian diaspora The Croatian diaspora consists of communities of ethnic Croats and/or Croatian citizens living outside Croatia. Estimates on its size are only approximate because of incomplete statistical records and naturalization, but (highest) estimates sugges ...

football clubs. Founded in 2007, the tournament is organised by the Croatian Football Federation on behalf of the Croatian Heritage Foundation and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Croatia.

History

The ''Croatian World Club Championship'' was founded in 2007 by the Croatian Heritage Foundation and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Croatia. The tournament is held every four years in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

by various host cities and venues. Clubs and teams with Croatian heritage or connections (Croatian diaspora) from around the world are selected for invitation to participate in the eight team tournament. The inaugural tournament was hosted by

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

and surrounding region between 24 and 30 June 2007.

Toronto Croatia Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

won the first championship with a 3–1 victory over runner-up Canberra Croatia. Croatian Football Federation president Vlatko Marković presented Toronto the Championship trophy.

Burgenland Croatian Burgenland Croatian (; german: Burgenländisch-Kroatisch, Burgenlandkroatisch, burgenlandkroatische Sprache, burgenländisch-kroatischen Sprache, hu, gradiscsei horvát nyelv) is a regional variety of the Chakavian dialect of Croatian spoken ...

finished third. The second tournament was hosted by

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

and surrounding region between 26 June and 1 July 2011. Toronto Croatia claimed back to back titles in 2011 with a 5–0 victory in the championship final over runner-up Canberra Croatia. SV Dinamo Ottakring finished third. The third edition of the tournament was hosted by Zagreb and surrounding region between 28 June and 4 July 2015. NK Pajde Möhlin won its first title in the 2015 edition of the tournament with a 4–0 victory in the championship final over runner-up Vojvođanski Hrvati. Toronto Croatia finished third.

Format of Championship

Structure

* 8 teams compete * Those 8 teams are separated into 2 groups of 4 teams each * Winner of each group advances to the championship final * Runner-up of each group advances to bronze play-off

Rules

* 3 points for a win * 1 point for a draw * 0 points for a loss * Goal differences used to differentiate two teams on equal points in group stage

Schedule

* Group matches are played over three game days, each consisting of two matches * The bronze play-off and championship final are played on the same day (fourth game day)

2007 Championship

The inaugural tournament was hosted by Zagrab and surrounding region between 24 and 30 June 2007. The eight teams selected to participate were:

(Canada), SC Croat San Pedro (USA), HNK Zrinski Chicago (USA) from CONCACAF,

Sydney United Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but ...

(Australia) from AFC, NK Croatia Essen (Germany), SD Croatia Berlin (Germany), AS Croatia Villefranche (France) and

(Austria) from UEFA. Of these only Burgenland was not an established club, but rather a selection side assembled after the

Croatian World Games The Croatian World Games ( hr, Hrvatske svjetske igre) are an Olympics-style competition pitting autochthonous Croats, Croat communities in Croatia and neighbouring nations against each other and Croatian diaspora communities. The event is organized ...

. Sydney United had to withdraw from the tournament due to financial and organisational reasons, so

Canberra FC Canberra Croatia Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Deakin in the south of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. Founded in 1958 the club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Capi ...

(known as Canberra Croatia at the tournament) stepped in to participate.

Group A

* Toronto Croatia * NK Croatia Essen * SC Croat San Pedro * Burgenland Croats *25 June 2007 Toronto Croatia - Burgenland Croatian 1:0 (0:0)
NK Croatia Essen - SC Croat San Pedro 0:3 (0:2) *27 June 2007 Burgenland Croatian - SC Croat San Pedro 1:1 (0:1)
Toronto Croatia - NK Croatia Essen 9:0 (4:0) *28 June 2007 Burgenland Croatian - NK Croatia Essen 5:0 (2:0)
Toronto Croatia - SC Croat San Pedro 2:1 (1:1)

Group B

* Canberra Croatia * SD Croatia Berlin * HNK Zrinski Chicago * AS Croatia Villefranche *25 June 2007 SD Croatia Berlin - HNK Zrinski Chicago 1:3 (1:2)
AS Croatia Villefranche - Canberra Croatia 1:5 (0:0) *27 June 2007 AS Croatia Villefranche - HNK Zrinski Chicago 0:3 (0:1)
Canberra Croatia - SD Croatia Berlin 2:2 (1:1) *28 June 2007 AS Croatia Villefranche - SD Croatia Berlin 1:6 (0:3)
Canberra Croatia - HNK Zrinski Chicago 3:1 (1:1)

Bronze play-off

Final

2011 Championship

The second tournament was hosted by

and surrounding region between 26 June - 2 July 2011. The eight teams selected to participate were:

(Canada) and SC Croat San Pedro (USA) from CONCACAF, Canberra Croatia (Australia) from AFC, SV Dinamo Ottakring (Austria), SD Croatia Berlin (Germany), NK Croatia Zürich (Switzerland), NK Croatia Stuttgart (Germany) and NK Pajde Möhlin (Switzerland) from UEFA.

Group A

* Toronto Croatia * SV Dinamo Ottakring * SD Croatia Berlin * NK Croatia Zürich *26 June 2011 Toronto Croatia - NK Croatia Zürich 4:1
SD Croatia Berlin - SV Dinamo Ottakring 2:3 *28 June 2011 Toronto Croatia - SV Dinamo Ottakring 3:0
SD Croatia Berlin - NK Croatia Zürich 0:0 *30 June 2011 Toronto Croatia - SD Croatia Berlin 2:0
SV Dinamo Ottakring - NK Croatia Zürich 0:0

Group B

* Canberra Croatia * NK Pajde Möhlin * NK Croatia Stuttgart * SC Croat San Pedro Final group placings source: *26 June 2011 Match details TBD
Match details TBD *28 June 2011 Match details TBD
Match details TBD *30 June 2011 Match details TBD
Match details TBD

Bronze play-off

Final

2015 Championship

The third tournament was hosted by

and surrounding region between 28 June - 4 July 2015. The eight teams selected to participate were:

(Canada) from CONCACAF,

Sydney United 58 Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but ...

(Australia) and Canberra Croatia (Australia) from AFC, AS Croatia Villefranche (France), Vojvođanski Hrvati (Serbia),

Croatia Malmö , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

(Sweden), NK Croatia Stuttgart (Germany) and NK Pajde Möhlin (Switzerland) from UEFA. Of these only Vojvođanski Hrvati was not an established club, but rather a selection side from the autonomous region of

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

in Serbia's north. Croatian Football Federation President

Davor Šuker Davor Šuker (; born 1 January 1968) is a Croatian football administrator and former Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He served as president of the Croatian Football Federation from 2012 t ...

and Zagreb Mayor

Milan Bandić Milan Bandić (22 November 1955 – 28 February 2021) was a Croatian politician and the longest-serving mayor of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. Bandić was mayor almost continuously from 2000 to 2021, except during the time between his resignati ...

officially opened the tournament.

Group A

* Toronto Croatia * Vojvođanski Hrvati * Sydney United 58 * AS Croatia Villefranche *28 June 2015 17:30 , Stadion Hrvatskog dragovoljca , Toronto Croatia - Sydney United 58 , 5:2 (1:1) *29 June 2015 18:30 , Stadion Hrvatskog dragovoljca , AS Croatia Villefranche - Vojvođanski Hrvati , 1:3 *1 July 2015 16:00 , Stadion Intera, Zaprešić , Vojvođanski Hrvati - Sydney United 58 , 3:1
19:30 , Stadion Intera, Zaprešić , Toronto Croatia - AS Croatia Villefranche , 1:1 (0:0) *2 July 2015 18:30 , Stadion Lučko , Vojvođanski Hrvati - Toronto Croatia , 2:2 (1:0)
18:30 , Stadion Rudeša , Sydney United 58 - AS Croatia Villefranche , 0:6

Group B

* Canberra Croatia * NK Pajde Möhlin * NK Croatia Stuttgart * Croatia Malmö *29 June 2015 16:30 , Stadion Sesveta , Canberra Croatia - Croatia Malmö , 0:0 (0:0)
18:30 , Stadion Sesveta , NK Croatia Stuttgart - NK Pajde Möhlin , 0:2 (0:2) *1 July 2015 16:30 , Stadion Gorice , NK Pajde Möhlin - Croatia Malmö , 3:2 (1:2)
18:30 , Stadion Gorice , Canberra Croatia - NK Croatia Stuttgart , 3:1 (1:0) *2 July 2015 18:30 , Stadion Lučko , NK Pajde Möhlin - Canberra Croatia , 4:1 (1:1)
18:30 , Stadion Rudeša , Croatia Malmö - NK Croatia Stuttgart , 1:1

Bronze play-off

Final

References

{{reflist

External links

HNS-vijesti
Croatian Football Federation news Football competitions in Croatia Recurring sporting events established in 2007 June sporting events Croatian diaspora