On Sunday, we'll be watching the Croatian national team take on Czechia at our stadium.
Who wouldn’t love to see the very best of Croatian football live? It’s surely on the mind of every fan of the most important of life’s unimportant things, here in our part of the world as well. On Sunday, 15 November, at 8:45 pm, our national team hosts Czechia at Opus Arena in the final round of UEFA Nations League Group A3, and it will once again be a chance to welcome and cheer on the Vatreni in the heart of Slavonia. The children will especially enjoy it, watching their idols down on the pitch, the players they always cheer for with all their hearts whenever Croatia takes the field.
We thank the Croatian Football Federation for its trust, and we are proud to have a stadium and an organisation capable of hosting a match at this level. The national team is always a welcome guest, and its visits to Osijek regularly bring something special. It has played here many times, to the delight of countless football lovers in our city and across eastern Croatia. The first time was on 10 April 1996, when Croatia beat Hungary 4–1 in a friendly at Gradski vrt. Back then, of course, tickets were in high demand, as they always have been whenever we’ve had the chance to host our national side. So far, the team has played 17 times in the city on the Drava, winning most of those matches, no fewer than 12 in total!
They feel at home at Opus Arena
We know the national team players love playing at Opus Arena and feel comfortable here, at the most beautiful stadium in Croatia. When they came for the match against Türkiye in October 2023, captain Luka Modrić said we have a true European stadium and that it was wonderful to finally play in such conditions in our own country as well. That was, incidentally, the Vatreni’s first visit to Opus.
In June 2025, Croatia hosted Czechia here in a World Cup qualifier, and we still vividly remember the convincing 5–1 victory. Let’s once again show the Vatreni our well-known hospitality and give them the support they deserve on their way to another win! See you in the stands on Sunday evening!
