ABSTRACT
Through a chronological discussion of socio-political changes and related sporting events in Croatia, this chapter offers an insight into the development of the Croatian society and sport from the disintegration of Yugoslavia in the late 1980s until the present day. In the first place, sport, especially football, became a social mirror, reflecting upcoming social changes, i.e., transition from totalitarianism to democracy. After disintegration of Yugoslavia, Croatia as a new nation-state has tried to become recognised on the European and world scene, in which successes in sport have played an important role. This chapter is built around data gathered during research for the doctoral thesis entitled ‘The role of high-performance sport in shaping national identity in the Republic of Croatia: The comparison of the 1990s and the 2000s’ (Bartoluci, 2013). We have analysed the social significance of sporting success in significant Croatian sports, especially football and basketball, but also handball, water polo, and some individual sports such as skiing. The phenomenon of Croatian football was also discussed as a frame within which to analyse modern sport and society, especially after Croatia reached the final of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
