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FOOTBALL

CROATIA U19 DOMINATES SERBIA FOR GROUP LEAD

Siniša Oreščanin‘s young Croatia U19 team crushed Serbia 4:1 in the final match of the first qualifying round mini-tournament for Euro 2026, securing top spot in the group.

At SC Rudeš stadium (no spectators, ref Florian Badstübner): Serbia led 0:1 (Zarić 16′), Croatia turned it around with Puljić (29′), Šutalo (33′, 72′), Zulfić (89′). Šutalo assisted Zebić’s near miss before his solo edge-of-box rocket; Durdov hit post thrice, Čović struck bar from penalty (66′).

Croatia: Rajić, Mikić, Zebić, Puljić, Mandić, Chelfi (Baković 64′), Subotić, Čović (Knežević 90′), Durdov (Vrzić 64′), Barić (Šimić 64′), Šutalo (Zulfić 80′) – Zulfić yellow. Serbia: Draškić, Mladenović (Stojković 46′), Hadžimujović, Simić, Avdić, Makević (Damjanović 77′), Kostov, Milosavljević, Zarić (Ranković 46′), Cvetković (Borovina 82′), Đorđević (Kostić 46′) – Kostov, Ranković, Hadžimujović yellows.

“Proud of the boys – fair, quality performance despite conceding early. This win means much on this sad day, but sport moves forward,” said Oreščanin, praising staff synergy for the third straight qualifying success. Šutalo (2 goals): “Max points, top group – stayed humble despite chances; 4:1 fair after their early luck.”

Croatia tops with 9 points: Croatia 9, Serbia 6, Georgia 3, Gibraltar 0 – advance to next round. Attended by Stipe Pletikosa, Petar Krpan, Josip Tomaško, Zorislav Srebrić, and Nikola Jurčević.