The Croatian Football Federation has confirmed two spectacular friendlies that the national team will play this March in the United States as part of the “Road to 26” series.
The Vatreni are set for a double feature in Orlando, facing Colombia on March 26th and Brazil on March 31st, as part of the friendly series “Road to 26”, which also features France alongside Croatia, Brazil, and Colombia.
Tickets for all four matches in the series go on sale on January 13th at 16:00 (CET). Fans can register for exclusive early access starting January 8th at 16:00 via roadto26.com.
Colombia currently ranks 13th in the FIFA standings and is South America’s third-best team, behind Argentina and Brazil. Like Croatia, the 2026 World Cup will mark Colombia’s seventh appearance on football’s biggest stage, after finishing third in the South American qualifiers behind Argentina and Ecuador. Brazil, meanwhile, remains the most successful team in World Cup history, with five titles and appearances in every tournament to date.
“I’m glad we’ve arranged such strong tests for March because they’ll give us the clearest picture of our form three months before the World Cup and show what we need to focus on in preparation,” said head coach Zlatko Dalić. “This window is always important for building togetherness and atmosphere within the team. It’s good that we’ll be in one place, get a feel for the U.S., and face opponents with different playing styles than the European ones we’re used to. Brazil is always among the strongest teams in the world, with only one goal — winning the World Cup. Colombia is also an excellent side; they even finished ahead of Brazil in qualifying, so we’ll face two big challenges that we have the quality to meet.”
Croatia and Brazil have met five times, with the most memorable clash coming in the 2022 World Cup quarterfinals in Qatar, when the Vatreni triumphed on penalties. Their first meeting took place in Split in 2005 and ended 1–1, followed by Brazil’s 1–0 win at the start of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The Seleção also claimed victories at the 2014 World Cup opener (3–1) and in a 2018 friendly in Liverpool (2–0). Croatia, however, has never faced Colombia before.
“Coach Dalić likes to schedule tough opponents before major tournaments to get a real sense of where we stand, so I’m delighted we managed to organize two fantastic matches in Orlando,” said HNS president Marijan Kustić. “Brazil and Colombia are among the best in the world, and the fact that Brazil chose France and Croatia as their opponents says a lot about our standing in global football. These matches will also let us experience the atmosphere in the U.S., so we’ve achieved everything we wanted for the March gathering.”
Match schedule
Thursday, 26 March
16:00* – Brazil vs France (Gillette Stadium, Foxborough)
19:30* – Colombia vs Croatia (Camping World Stadium, Orlando)
Sunday, 29 March
15:00* – Colombia vs France (Northwest Stadium, Landover)
Tuesday, 31 March
20:00* – Brazil vs Croatia (Camping World Stadium, Orlando)
*all match times are local
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