Slaven Bilić has returned to coach the Croatian national football team, replacing Zlatko Dalić who resigned last week after exiting the 2026 World Cup Round of 32 at the hands of Portugal, according to an announcement by the local football association on Monday.

Bilić's last coaching position was with Al-Fateh club during the 2023-2024 season.

The former defender, who previously held the role between 2006 and 2012, will replace the most successful coach in the national team's history, who was runner-up in the 2018 World Cup under Dalić and then finished third in the previous edition in 2022.

Failed to repeat the achievements of 2018 and 2022

Croatia failed to repeat the feats of 2018 and 2022 by exiting the Round of 32 of the current edition held in North America, after losing 1-2 to Portugal in an exciting match that saw three of its goals disallowed for offside.

The Croatian Football Federation said in a post on X that "based on the proposal of Federation President Marijan Kustić, the executive committee unanimously appointed Slaven Bilić as coach of the Croatian national team."

His numbers in the previous tenure

During his previous stint with the national team, Bilić (57) achieved a higher win percentage than Dalić, recording 42 wins, 15 draws and 8 losses in 65 matches, compared to 57 wins, 26 draws and 28 losses in 111 matches for his predecessor.

However, his best achievement with the team was reaching the quarter-finals of Euro 2008, before losing to Turkey on penalties.

Bilić played 44 international matches for Croatia, and also coached a number of clubs, including English West Ham United where he played in the mid-1990s, and his two other English clubs West Bromwich Albion and Watford, in addition to Russian Lokomotiv Moscow, Turkish Beşiktaş, and Saudi Al-Ittihad.

Dalić coached the national team since 2017 and also led them to the Round of 16 of Euro 2020.

Bilić's first assignment will be in September and October in the Nations League, where Croatia will face Czechia and Spain (twice) and England in Group 3 of the top division.