2018 World Cup Draw: Croatia 5th Tallest, 1st for Players Playing Abroad…

(HNS)

Croatia will find out its group opponents at the 2018 World Cup in Russia this Friday when the draw is made.

The 2018 World Cup draw will take place in Moscow on 1 December at the State Kremlin Palace starting at 6 pm local time.

The 32 teams are split into 4 pots. Pot 1 will contain Russia and the highest-ranked seven teams. Pot 2 will feature the next best eight teams, and so on for Pots 3 and 4. Croatia is in Pot 2.

Pots for the draw this Friday (FIFA)

Some statistics revealed by the International Centre for Sports Studies’ (CIES) study show that Croatia is only one of 3 teams at the tournament with 100% of its players (started the last match) at foreign clubs.

(CEIS)

All of Croatia’s starting eleven play abroad (HNS)

When it comes to the tallest teams at the World Cup, Croatia will be the 5th tallest with an average height of 184.9 cm.

(CEIS)

Croatia are the 4th tallest side (HNS)

The average age of Zlatko Dalic’s side is 27.5, putting them somewhere in the middle when it comes to the 32 teams at the tournament.

(CEIS)

Luka Modric is 32 (Photo: HNS)

When it comes to % of players born abroad, Croatia is 6th with 15.4% of the team not born in Croatia, including Ivan Rakitic (Switzerland), Dejan Lovren (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Mateo Kovacic (Austria) and Mario Pasalic (Germany).

(CEIS)

Ivan Rakitić was born in Switzerland (HNS)

You can see the full study here – CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report.

he CIES Football Observatory is a research group within the Centre International d’Étude du Sport (CIES), a Swiss-based independent study centre founded in 1995 by FIFA in partnership with the canton and town of Neuchâtel.