Croatia and Slovenia share a long-standing rivalry shaped by frequent meetings in both friendly matches and major competitions. Their encounters have consistently delivered intense battles, dramatic finishes and key moments in medal races, with Croatia holding the overall edge in victories. And they just celebrated their 10th victory against Slovenia, an important one for a spot in the semi-finals.
At the Men’s EHF EURO, the neighbours had met five times prior to this clash, with Croatia winning in 1996, 2008 and 2012 — the most recent meeting at the European championship. Since then, both sides have claimed one victory each in world championship bronze medal matches, while their latest encounter came at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship in Croatia, where the hosts prevailed 29:26 on their way to silver.
With margins usually narrow — often two or three goals, twice by five, and only once a clear 30:21 win for Croatia back in 1995 — another tight battle was always expected. Croatia once again proved decisive in the closing stages, edging Slovenia by 29:25 in another hard-fought derby that lived up to the rivalry’s reputation. Two key figures were goalkeeper Dominik Kuzmanović who picked up where Matej Mandić left off with on-time saves in the dying moments, and Tin Lučin who led Croatia with seven goals total.