Rebic left out of preliminary Croatia squad ahead of World Cup

Milan forward Ante Rebic has been left out of Croatia’s preliminary 34-man squad for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.

Rebic was a key part of the Croatia team who reached the World Cup final in Russia in 2018, opening the scoring in an impressive 3-0 group-stage win over Argentina in that tournament.

However, the Rossoneri man has only made three Serie A starts this season, and although he has hit the net three times in his seven total league appearances, it has not been enough to enter him into Zlatko Dalic’s thoughts.

Rebic last played for his country at last year’s Euro 2020.

Luka Modric briefly sparked concerns over his fitness when he missed Real Madrid’s Champions League defeat to RB Leipzig this month, but the 2018 Ballon d’Or winner is included on the list, as are Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic and Tottenham’s Ivan Perisic.

Croatia will begin their Group F campaign against Morocco on November 23, before facing Canada and Belgium, and they will name their final 26-man squad on November 9.

Croatia preliminary squad in full: Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb), Ivica Ivusic (Osijek), Ivo Grbic (Atletico Madrid), Dominik Kotarski (PAOK), Nediljko Labrovic (Rijeka); Domagoj Vida (AEK), Dejan Lovren (Zenit), Borna Barisic (Rangers), Duje Caleta-Car (Southampton), Josip Juranovic (Celtic), Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig), Borna Sosa (Stuttgart), Josip Stanisic (Bayern Munich), Marin Pongracic (Lecce), Martin Erlic (Sassuolo), Josip Sutalo (Dinamo Zagreb); Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea), Marcelo Brozovic (Inter), Mario Pasalic (Atalanta), Nikola Vlasic (Torino), Luka Ivanusec (Dinamo Zagreb), Lovro Majer (Rennes), Kristijan Jakic (Eintracht Frankfurt), Luka Sucic (Salzburg), Josip Misic (Dinamo Zagreb); Ivan Perisic (Tottenham), Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim), Josip Brekalo (Wolfsburg), Bruno Petkovic (Dinamo Zagreb), Mislav Orsic (Dinamo Zagreb), Ante Budimir (Osasuna), Marko Livaja (Hajduk Split), Antonio Colak (Rangers).

Here is #Croatia preliminary squad for the upcoming @FIFAWorldCup in Qatar – it includes 34 names! #Family

Final squad to be presented on 9 November #WorldCup #Vatreni pic.twitter.com/MR3lEbrzS7

— HNS (@HNS_CFF) October 31, 2022