Despite being a nation of under 4 million people, Croatia have been a strong side since their first tournament, Euro 96 and then the France 1998 World Cup, where they finished third and produced the tournament’s top scorer, Davor Suker.

The current Croatia squad may not have the star quality of he late nineties side of Suker, Boban, Prosinecki and Boksic, but current coach Slaven Bilic was a key part of that team and the achievements continue. A deserved victory over England, a 7-0 thrashing of Andorra and a consistency of only two draw (both versus Russia) and no losses means that Croatia top the group and could pull away from the chasing pack if they continue this form.

Key to Croatia’s ambitions is Brazilian-Croatian Eduardo da Silva, with 6 goals in 7 qualifying games. His form has been so hot over the past year Arsenal FC invested a lot of money to bring him to London this summer as replacement for Thierry Henry.