The Croatian school football team won the world title at the World School Championship held in Suzhou, China. In the final, the Croatian secondary school students defeated Guinea on penalties, with the regular time portion of the match ending 1-1.
Captain Stjepan Habek scored for Croatia in the final. In the shoot-out, goalkeeper David Cigula was the hero, saving all three penalties from the Guinean players. Dani Pintarić, Teo Benko and Stjepan Habek were precise for Croatia, so Croatia won the shoot-out 3-0.
Croatia opened the competition with victories against Macau and Algeria, both times with a score of 2-0, and then beat India 11-0. In the round of 16, they defeated Morocco 3-0. In the quarter-final against Benin, the match ended 2-2, and Croatia advanced on a better penalty shoot-out. In the semi-final, the Croatian secondary school students beat Turkey 3-1, with the opposing team made up of players from the Beşiktaş academy. The scorers for Croatia in the semi-final were Dani Pintarić, Ivano Vidić and Leo Habek.
All 19 Croatian representatives attend schools in Varaždin County. A total of 14 students come from the Second Grammar School in Varaždin, three from the Electrical Engineering School in Varaždin, and one each from the Novi Marof Secondary School and the First Private Grammar School in Varaždin. The team was managed by coaches Goran Labaš and Igor Kranjec, fitness coach Srđan Bajus and head Dario Kos, a teacher at the Second Grammar School in Varaždin.
The competition is the ISF Football World Cup China 2026, held under the auspices of the International School Sport Federation (ISF). It is a world championship for school teams, not a FIFA competition. The players who represented Croatia were David Cigula, Rok Hudek, Jan Marić, Mate Tkalčec, David Grahovac-Fedešin, Fran Suhodolčan, David Krobot, Ivano Vidić, Roko Valentak, Niko Gašparić, Ivan Babok, Josip Ereš, Leo Habek, Lovro Mikulčić, Dani Pintarić, Teo Benko, Matej Vugrin, Stjepan Habek and Ivan Posavec.
