Spurs and Croatia: A special connection

With Igor Tudor joining the Club as Head Coach until the end of the season, he enriches a deep connection between Spurs and Croatia.

In our history, five Croatians have donned Lilywhite and have enjoyed some memorable moments in our colours, especially the trio of Vedran Corluka, Niko Kranjcar and of course, Luka Modric, who were all members of the 2009/10 squad which secured Champions League football for the first time.

The following season, that trio became a quartet with the signing of goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa, who went on to make a single appearance for us, coming in a League Cup north London derby.

Our most recent Croat was Ivan Perisic – a star for the Croatia national team and an iconic player in European football, who played for us for a year before an anterior cruciate ligament injury ruptured his spell in north London.

Luka Modric (2008-2012)

160 appearances, 17 goals

Undoubtedly a Spurs legend, Luka is the Croatian with the most appearances for the Club, playing four seasons in Lilywhite between 2008-2012.

He might have left an incredible legacy at the Club, but what makes his Spurs story so fascinating is the fact that the 2018 Ballon d’Or winner initially struggled in north London.

A young and raw talent, though, patience was given to the midfielder, but that time and effort eventually saw a world beater blossom.

Critical and influential in the side as we secured Champions League football in 2010, he went on to win our Player of the Season award in the following campaign as we finished fifth and reached the quarter-finals of European football’s elite club competition.

Luka’s final season for Spurs was the 2011/12 season, which was his best season in terms of goal return, scoring five times and setting up a further five goals before making the move to Spanish giants Real Madrid, where he spent 13 seasons.

In Madrid, his reputation as one of the world’s greats just continued to grow, winning 28 trophies and becoming one of only five players to have won the Champions League (or European Cup) on six occasions.

He is Croatia’s most-capped player, still playing for his country at the age of 40, which is 20 years on from his international debut. This summer’s World Cup is set to be his tenth international tournament.

2018 was a year to remember for Luka, captaining Croatia to the World Cup final after European glory with Real Madrid. The midfielder was the player of the tournament at the World Cup, went on to win the Ballon d’Or award and both FIFA and UEFA’s awards for the best men’s player in that year.

Vedran Corluka (2008-2012)

109 games, 1 goal

Joining in the same summer as Luka, Vedran Corluka signed from Manchester City on a six-year contract on deadline day in 2008.

Again, like Luka, Vedran was a key part of our iconic 2009/10 squad as we achieved our highest finish since the 1989/90 season.

Playing mainly at right-back, ‘Charlie’ came across a very relaxed player on the pitch and was brilliant in one-vs-one battles.

Very important in helping Luka settle into N17 and getting up to speed in the Premier League, the pair were inseparable in their time together in north London.

He departed N17 on loan in January, 2012, joining Bayer Leverkusen on loan before heading to Russia and Lokomotiv Moscow, where he spent the rest of his career. At the end of the 2020/21 season, he left Lokomotiv and was quickly named the assistant to Croatia Head Coach Zlatko Dalic for that summer’s Euros - a role he still holds to this day.

He played 103 times for his country, scoring four goals and was part of the Croatia squad at five international tournaments, including the run to the World Cup final in 2018.

Vedran never played for Croatia at the same time as Igor Tudor, but the pair did work together for a brief period between 2012-2013, where Igor was assistant coach to Igor Stimac.

Niko Kranjcar (2009-2012)

71 games, 11 goals

Luka and Vedran were joined by Niko on the summer transfer deadline day of 2009, joining from Portsmouth, where he had spent three seasons.

A charismatic guy with flair and incredible ability, Niko starred in his debut campaign, scoring six goals and getting five assists as we qualified for top-tier European football for the first time since 1962.

He left the Club in the summer of 2012 to join Dynamo Kyiv, but he returned to the Premier League and London the following year as he linked up with Harry Redknapp once again at QPR.

The Croatian finished his career with Rangers after a spell in the United States with New York Cosmos. Since hanging up his boots, Niko has been working as an assistant coach for Croatia’s youth teams.

Tudor started the game that saw Niko make his international debut - a 1-0 friendly win over Israel in August 2004. The pair went on to play 16 more times together, including all three group games at the 2006 World Cup, with Luka also playing in the final game against Australia.

Niko played 81 times for Croatia, going on to play at Euro 2008 and 2012, scoring 15 goals.

Ivan Perisic (2022-2024)

50 appearances, 1 goal

Ivan became the fifth Croatian to play for us when he joined the Club on a free transfer from Internazionale in the summer of 2022, reuniting with Antonio Conte, who had also been his coach at the Italian giants.

An iconic player in European football, having starred for Borussia Dortmund, Wolfsburg, FC Bayern and Inter, Ivan arrived in north London with bags of experience and quality.

And that showed in Lilywhite, especially in his dead-ball ability as he racked up the assists with his wand of a left foot.

He continued to demonstrate his quality and value in the early days of Ange Postecoglou’s reign, with his experienced head vital in helping a young side manage games. However, that bright start to life under the Australian was halted by an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

As he continued his significant recovery, the following January, he opted to move home and join Hajduk Split on loan for the rest of the season before making the move permanent in the summer.

He has since signed for PSV Eindhoven, where he continues to produce incredible performances, winning the Eredivisie last year while PSV lead this year’s edition by 14 points with 11 games remaining.

Like Luka, Ivan is a current international player for Croatia, making 150 caps since his debut in 2011 and scoring 38 times. Should he make the 2026 World Cup squad, it would be his eighth international tournament for the nation.

Stipe Pletikosa (2010-11)

1 appearance

Only Luka, Ivan, and Darijo Srna have more caps for Croatia than Stipe, who made one appearance for the Club in the 2010/11 season, when he was on loan from Spartak Moscow.

His only game came in the League Cup third round as we faced Arsenal in September, 2010.

Stipe played with Tudor 28 times for Croatia, and made 61 appearances together with Luka, 53 with Vedran, and 51 with Niko.