Bulgaria v Croatia background
Monday, June 2, 2014
Article summary
As Bulgaria meet Croatia in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group H, both can take heart from the knowledge that they both reached the finals last time they were paired together.
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Article body
Bulgaria and Croatia both reached the finals last time they were paired in a UEFA European Championship qualifying group, and will hope their reunion in Group H augurs well.
Match background
• Bulgaria's record in six encounters with Croatia is undistinguished: W1 D2 L3 (W1 D0 L1 at home, W0 D2 L1 in Croatia).
• Their most recent encounters came in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Darijo Srna (15 and 31) gave Zlatko Kranjčar's side a comfortable lead in Zagreb on 9 October 2004 – nearly ten years to the day before their current match – only for a Martin Petrov effort (77) and Dimitar Berbatov's 86th-minute header to earn Hristo Stoichkov's visitors a 2-2 draw.
• Marko Babić (18), Igor Tudor (59) and Niko Kranjčar (80) struck either side of Martin Petrov (72) in the return fixture on 4 June 2005, Croatia winning 3-1 in Sofia.
• The sides' only previous UEFA European Championship encounters were in UEFA EURO 2004 qualifying. Stiliyan Petrov (22) and Dimitar Berbatov (37) struck as Plamen Markov's Bulgaria beat Otto Barić's Croatia 2-0 in Sofia on 12 October 2002. Croatia redeemed themselves on 11 October 2003 with a 1-0 home win, substitute Ivica Olić's 48th-minute strike earning his side a play-off place – with Bulgaria already confirmed as group winners.
• In 14 matches between clubs from these nations in UEFA competition, the Bulgarian sides' record is W4 D3 L7 (W3 D3 L2 at home, W1 D0 L5 in Croatia). Most recently, their respective champions – PFC Ludogorets Razgrad and GNK Dinamo – met in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League group stage, the Bulgarian side winning 3-0 at home and 2-1 in Zagreb.
• Bulgarian and Croatian sides have met in nine UEFA youth and age-limit matches, for which Bulgaria's record is W3 D1 L5.
