Former West Ham United player and manager Slaven Bilic is set to return to international management with his country, Croatia.
According to talkSPORT, "Bilic has agreed a deal to return as Croatia manager."
Bilic played 44 times for Croatia and starred for them at the 1998 World Cup. However, he is remembered for diving, which got Laurent Blanc sent off in their semi-final defeat to France. Bilic played every minute of the tournament for Croatia, as they went on to defeat the Netherlands in the third-place playoff.
After retiring from playing, Bilic coached the Croatian team he played for Hadjuk Split. He then managed Croatia's Under-21s before taking charge of their senior side.
Fans will remember Bilic's Croatia defeating England 3-2 at Wembley on their way to qualifying for Euro 2008. His side went on to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament before losing to Turkey. Bilic left Croatia after they went out at the group stage of Euro 2012.
Bilic managed Lokomotiv Moscow and Besiktas before taking charge of West Ham. He delivered a fantastic final season at Upton Park, where the Hammers finished seventh in the Premier League. However, he faced difficulties at the London Stadium, which included Dimitri Payet refusing to play.
Bilic gave Upton Park a fantastic send-off
In November 2017, Bilic was sacked, and he went on to manage Al-Ittihad, West Bromwich Albion, Beijing Guoan, Watford, and Al Fateh. He has been out of work since 2024, but has appeared on talkSPORT and has written for The Telegraph.
The Croatian national team has built on the success they had under Bilic. They reached the World Cup final in 2018 before losing to France. In the 2022 tournament, they came third after beating Morocco in the playoff match. However, at the World Cup this summer, Croatia narrowly lost to Portugal in the round of 32.
Zlatko Dalic left as Croatia's manager as his contract expired after their loss to Portugal. Bilic's goals will be to take Croatia to Euro 2028, which is to be held in the UK & Ireland. Then his focus should be on the 2030 World Cup, which is to be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
Bilic will be tasked with moving Croatia on from their old guard. Players such as Luka Modrić, Ivan Perišić and Andrej Kramarić are now well into their thirties. Bilic will have a tough job replacing these great players. However, Croatia do have some talented youngsters such as Luka Vušković.
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