Four members of Karate Club Globus Čakovec-Mala Subotica represented Croatia at the World Championships for cadets, juniors and under-21 seniors, held in the Polish city of Bielsko-Biała. The tournament featured 2,022 competitors from 114 countries, with the Međimurje club fielding four representatives in the Croatian team.
Petar Filipović and Ervin Šoltić came closest to a medal, ultimately securing fifth places in their respective categories. Filipović competed in the cadet category above 70 kilograms, where he lost to a Portuguese representative who later reached the final. Through the repechage, he recorded three wins — defeating a Slovakian 4:0, passing a Georgian after the opponent's disqualification, and beating a Kazakh 6:1 — to earn a spot in the bronze medal match. In the decisive encounter, he was stopped by a German competitor 4:2, finishing the competition in fifth place.
Ervin Šoltić achieved the same placement in the junior category above 76 kilograms. He reached the medal match with victories over representatives from Cyprus 1:0, France 1:0 and Serbia 4:0, while his only defeat in the main draw came from a Montenegrin who ultimately became world champion. Šoltić returned to the medal hunt via the repechage with a 6:4 win over an Egyptian, but narrowly lost to a Senegalese 1:2 in the bronze medal bout, conceding the deciding point in the final seconds.
Petar Slukić competed in the junior category up to 68 kilograms. After a walkover in the first round, he beat a representative from North Macedonia in a match that ended 0:0, before losing narrowly 0:1 to a Moldovan who later reached the semi-finals. Slukić thus missed the chance to continue through the repechage, as the Moldovan was eliminated in the semi-finals.
Sven Strahija represented Croatia in the under-21 senior category up to 75 kilograms. In his first appearance, he beat a Bulgarian competitor 6:4, before losing narrowly 3:4 to a Turkish representative. The Turkish competitor was later eliminated in the semi-finals, but Strahija did not receive a repechage opportunity despite this.
Croatian coach Dejan Slukić, head coach of the Croatian cadet, junior and under-21 senior teams, accompanied the national team to Poland.
