Croatia’s flag football rise and a debut on the European stage

(Photo credit: Marijan Marinovic/MRAW_studio)

By Cole Kinder

The Croatian American Football Association (Hrvatski savez američkog nogometa) announced this past weekend that they will be sending the Croatian national men’s flag football team to the 2025 European Championship.

The event will be taking place from 24 September to 28 September in Paris, France with over 23 nations represented on the men’s side.

(Image: Croatian American Football Association)

Some of these nations are among the best in the world including world #2 Austria, and 2024 World Championship bronze medalist, Switzerland (#7).

The other nations will be Germany (#4), France (#5), Italy (#6), Israel (#8), Denmark (#11), Great Britain (#14), Spain (#15), Finland (#18), Sweden (#19), Ukraine (#20), Ireland (#21), Czech Republic (#23), Poland (#27), Georgia (#29), the Netherlands (#33), Slovakia (#41), plus the unranked national teams of Hungary, Portugal, Norway, Slovenia, and Croatia.

Croatia will not be expected to win this tournament due to their newness, but insiders are more hopeful.

Every nation starts off unranked until they compete and Croatia has never competed in the European Championship or World Championship.

(Photo credit: Marijan Marinovic/MRAW_studio)

It is true that the tackle football situation in Croatia has not been strong post-pandemic due to a lack of consistent play domestically.

Nearby nations like Slovenia and Serbia have very good club teams that produce and buy top European and American talent respectively, and some of their clubs are household names for American football fans on the continent.

This definitely needs to change in the future and the Croatian diaspora can help out through fundraising opportunities and connections with local college teams across the USA and elsewhere. 

For example, Houston Christian University helped donate equipment to Croatian club teams a while back. 

Make sure that you connect on Facebook, Instagram, or through other avenues with Croatian club teams to know their goals for their season first, as some clubs only seek to play flag football, and not the tackle version you see in the NFL.

But, others like the Split Sea Wolves are gearing up for a new tackle season later this year. 

Yet, the short-comings in Croatian tackle football have been outshined by the impressive flag football play in Croatia.

Prominent clubs line many cities such as the Split Sea Wolves, Bjelovar Green Horns, Zaprešić Saints, Osijek Cannons, Zagreb Patriots, and Dubrovnik Sharks. Additionally, Bosnian and Herzegovinian clubs often join the Croatian Flag Football League to improve the level of play.

Currently, the two Dalmatian clubs dominate the league with Split at 5 wins from 5 and Dubrovnik with 4 wins and 1 loss.

(Image: Croatian American Football Association)

So, Croatian flag football players are proving elite on the gridiron and have been showing immense potential since the second half of last decade when the Croatian American Football Association began promoting the less costly and safer version of the sport.

These efforts helped grow American football in Croatia because now more clubs can recruit players as all the players need are flags and uniforms instead of helmets, shoulder pads, thigh and knee pads, and other equipment necessary for tackle.

With the recent announcement of flag football at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles (USA), a sister-city of Split, funding has greatly increased for the sport in all nations from the respective Olympic federations.

(Photo credit: Marijan Marinovic/MRAW_studio)

The upcoming EURO Flag 2025 will not be an Olympic qualifier, rather it will serve as a 2026 IFAF World Championship qualifier, but it will be important for Croatia to show the Croatian Olympic Committee that potential exists in this new sport as only three more years remain.

Two years ago, flag football saw major upsets in the Asia and Oceania Championship where prominent football nations like Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, and Australia were upset and Thailand came away with the championship.

(Photo credit: Marijan Marinovic/MRAW_studio)

And last year at the World Championship, we saw Switzerland upset 2021 bronze medalist Panama, former gold medalist Canada, and 2021 silver medalist Mexico, to claim their first medal as the 3rd best team in the world.

So, do not fear an unranked Croatia playing badly in Paris this September. Flag football is unpredictable and Croatians are improving daily.