<P> On 3 July 1992, Croatia was re-admitted to FIFA, playing its first official matches in the modern era against Australia in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney . This team was led by Stanko Poklepović as part of an international exhibition tour; in April 1993, Vlatko Marković was appointed as manager . Croatia finally gained admission into UEFA in June 1993, which was too late for the national team to enter the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, as these already commenced the year before . Marković only led the team in one match, a home win against Ukraine in June 1993, before being dismissed in February 1994 and replaced by Miroslav Blažević the following month . The team's performances before Croatia's official independence were not recorded by FIFA, so they entered the World Rankings in 125th place . Blažević led Croatia's qualifying campaign for Euro 1996, beginning with the nation's first post-independence competitive victory, a 2--0 win over Estonia on 4 September 1994 . Their first competitive defeat came on 11 June 1995 in a 1--0 away loss to Ukraine during the same qualifying campaign . They eventually finished first in their qualifying group and won FIFA's 1994 Best Mover of the Year award as they moved up to 62nd in the rankings by the end of the year . </P> <P> Goran Vlaović scored the team's first goal at a major tournament, a late winner against Turkey at the City Ground in Nottingham in their first group match at Euro 96 . After their opening victory, Croatia beat reigning champions Denmark 3--0, but went on to lose against Portugal by the same scoreline in their final group fixture . Croatia still advanced to the knockout stage, but were beaten in the quarter - finals 1--2 by Germany, who went on to win the tournament . </P> <P> In spite of the quarter - final exit, Blažević continued to lead Croatia in the 1998 World Cup qualifying campaign, which ended successfully after an aggregate victory against Ukraine in the two - legged play - off . In the group stage of the World Cup, Croatia beat Jamaica and Japan but lost to Argentina, before defeating Romania to reach a quarter - final tie against Germany, then ranked second in the world . Croatia won 3--0 with goals from Robert Jarni, Goran Vlaović and Davor Šuker, all after Christian Wörns had been sent off . Croatia then faced the host nation, France, in the semi-final . After a goalless first - half, Croatia took the lead, only to concede two goals by opposing defender Lilian Thuram and lose 1--2 . In the third - place match, Croatia beat the Netherlands 2--1, with Davor Šuker winning the Golden Boot award for scoring the most goals of the tournament with six goals in seven games . Croatia's performance in 1998 was among the best debut performances in the World Cup (equaling Portugal's third place debut finish at the 1966 World Cup), and as a result, Croatia rose to number three in the January 1999 FIFA World Rankings, their highest ranking to date . For their achievements, the team of the 1990s was dubbed the "Golden Generation ." A considerable portion of this squad (Jarni, Štimac, Boban, Prosinečki and Šuker), previously won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship with the Yugoslavia under - 20 team . </P> <P> Despite good performances in their first two major competitions, Croatia's qualifying campaign for Euro 2000 was less successful, as they finished third in their qualifying group behind Yugoslavia and Republic of Ireland, and thus failed to qualify . Both fixtures against archenemies Yugoslavia (the rump state later renamed Serbia and Montenegro) ended in draws, which prevented Croatia from qualifying for the tournament . </P>

When did croatia finish 3rd in the world cup