{"id":2217,"date":"2026-06-17T23:07:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T23:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2217"},"modified":"2026-06-17T23:07:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T23:07:47","slug":"croatian-fans-rally-in-washington-as-citys-unofficial-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2217","title":{"rendered":"Croatian fans rally in Washington as city\u2019s unofficial team"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New England has welcomed Scotland fans who are drinking the towns dry. Mexican cities have gladly accepted the Iranian players who have made their temporary home on the nation\u2019s West Coast. Meanwhile, the Washington region has embraced the checkered jerseys and flags of the Croatian squad that\u2019s training in nearby Alexandria, Virginia.<\/p>\n

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The Croatian fans arrived in droves on Wednesday for an official watch party celebrating their nation\u2019s World Cup opening match against England. Franklin Hall, the beer garden near the District\u2019s U Street corridor, played host to more than 100 Croatian fans who were eager to cheer on their team.<\/p>\n

Passionate fans of the \u201cVatreni\u201d donned checkered jerseys, shoes and hats, congregating throughout the establishment as they celebrated their beloved soccer team with explosive enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

They greeted an opening goal by England\u2019s Harry Kane with an eruption of jeers. But 24 minutes later, Croatia\u2019s Martin Baturina created a symphony for his supporters as he scored an equalizer.<\/p>\n

The watch party continued in that rhythm, marching the back-and-forth affair on the pitch that was tied 2-2 at halftime.<\/p>\n

England went on to win 4-2, thanks to second-half goals from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford.\u00a0<\/div>\n

Croatia \u2014 with a population of less than 4 million \u2014 has a penchant for surprising onlookers on the pitch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve qualified for seven World Cups since earning their independence from Yugoslavia in 1998.<\/p>\n

The Vatreni aren\u2019t content to say they qualified for this year\u2019s World Cup, either. The Croatian squad has developed a reputation as perennial overachievers. They made the final and finished as runners-up in 2018. They appeared in the semi-final in 2022.<\/p>\n

The squad is a unifying force for the small but passionate group of Croatian ex-pats who have made homes in the District.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty remarkable,\u201d Filip Bonavac, an Alexandria resident originally from Croatia, said. \u201cI think it shows what great spirit and national pride we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fervent supporters turned out in force to welcome the squad to a hotel in Alexandria last week. It started with an impromptu email to members of a local Croatian group and ended with dozens of fans in checkered jerseys \u2014 and one with a mask of 40-year-old midfielder Luka Modric.<\/p>\n

No other nation is training this close to the District. The city won\u2019t host any World Cup matches, either.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Croatia has, in turn, become an unofficial team for Washington\u2019s soccer fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was surprised. It was so many people \u2014 and non-Croatians \u2014 who showed up,\u201d said Tomislav Ivakovic, the vice president for the Washington Chapter of the Association of Croatian American Professionals. \u201cIt was great. I didn\u2019t expect it; it was all spontaneous.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was only a warm-up. On Wednesday, as Croatia\u2019s World Cup campaign began in earnest, they parked a bus outside of Franklin Hall. A makeshift stage saw folk music performed in Croatian, building excitement for the tournament itself.<\/p>\n

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The Washington-based Croatians have been looking forward to this World Cup for months, since Croatia confirmed that it would host its training camp at Episcopal High School.<\/p>\n

The squad from Southern Europe was one of more than a half-dozen national teams that considered using Episcopal as a base of operations.<\/p>\n

The private, Catholic institution has hosted a handful of elite soccer teams, including the 2024 U.S. women\u2019s Olympic squad and Premier League sides Everton and Brentford. Becoming the home of a World Cup team is different, and not just because of the intense inspections from FIFA to ensure the facilities were up to par.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a lot more buzz, a lot more Croatian flags in the area,\u201d said Dan O\u2019Neil, Episcopal\u2019s director of auxiliary programs. \u201cIt\u2019s one of these pride moments that we\u2019re really excited to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Croatian fans who gathered for Wednesday\u2019s watch party know about pride. Even qualifying for the World Cup in a hyper-competitive continent like Europe is an achievement. Italy, a former powerhouse that won the tournament in 2006, hasn\u2019t qualified since 2014 as competition stiffened.<\/p>\n

Regularly outperforming rival nations with better facilities, larger populations and more name recognition helped cement Croatian fandom.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a huge outlier,\u201d Ivakovic said. \u201cWhen you already did overachieve, the game is just fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

As dozens of fans in checkered jerseys sang the Croatian national anthem arm-in-arm, they were fulfilling an identity that has helped define the country on a global stage. The Croatian fans \u2014 like every major team from Europe \u2014 will drink, sing and cheer loud enough to rock a city block. But the Croatians say their team, and the fan culture surrounding it, is different.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our ability not to give up and to prove others that, even though we are small nation, we can compete with anyone in the world,\u201d Ivakovic said. \u201cTo show that our team can play its best against the so-called favorites. In everyone\u2019s eyes, we are the underdogs.\u201d<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean expectations are low. After three trips to the semifinals in seven World Cups, the Croatian squad won\u2019t catch anyone by surprise \u2014 even if the fans still believe they\u2019re rooting for David against a European continent filled with metaphorical Goliaths like Spain, France, Portugal and England.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are our knights. They bring home the trophies,\u201d said Bonavac, who noted that the continued World Cup success has helped put the country on the map. \u201cThe expectations are surprisingly high. We rely on this team to be the ambassador for our state. It\u2019s extraordinarily important. We don\u2019t hold it against them, because it\u2019s still a small team, but when they do well, it\u2019s a sense of enormous national pride.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Croatian squad continues Group L play with a match against Panama in Toronto on Tuesday. They\u2019ll then return to the U.S. to face Ghana on June 27 in Philadelphia for their final group-stage match.<\/p>\n

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