Croatia's coach #00 Zlatko Dalic (C) congratulates Croatia's defender #06 Dejan Lovren for their win in the Qatar 2022 World Cup round of 16 football match between Japan and Croatia at the Al-Janoub Stadium in Al-Wakrah, south of Doha on December 5, 2022. (Photo by Ina Fassbender / AFP)
Zagreb: Zlatko Dalic, Croatia's most succesful coach, has extended his contract until 2026, the country's football federation (HNS) said on Saturday.
Dalic led Croatia to their first World Cup final in 2018 in Russia, where they lost to France. He guided his squad to the semi-finals of the Qatar World Cup, where they were beaten by eventual champions Argentina, and to the last 16 of Euro 2020.
In Qatar, Crotia went on to beat Morocco in the third-place play-off and have qualified for the final four of the Nations League finals due in June.
Dalic, who took over in 2017, is now due to continue to the next World Cup in 2026.
He called his job the "greatest honour and pleasure that a coach can have".
"I have a great passion and ambition to continue working with Croatia ... there are still many great challenges ahead of us," the 56-year-old said.
