Slaven Bilic Returns as Croatia Boss Ahead of England Test

Slaven Bilic is back in charge of Croatia, and the return already feels like a shift in mood. Nine years after he last spoke about not believing in comebacks, the 58-year-old has stepped into one of football’s more demanding jobs with fresh energy, familiar fire and a clear desire to change the team’s direction.

A return built on belief, not nostalgia

Bilic’s second spell as Croatia manager comes after a long road through club football in England, Saudi Arabia and China, plus a 23-month break from the game. His appointment follows Zlatko Dalic’s highly successful era, which delivered a World Cup final and a third-place finish, making the handover both symbolic and difficult.

But Bilic has never been a coach short on personality or conviction. In contrast to Dalic’s calm and restrained style, Bilic brings directness, passion and a more open footballing message. His return has created the sense of a fresh breeze around the national team, and that matters in a setup where confidence has always been a key ingredient.

The man who helped shape Croatia’s modern rise

Bilic’s case is stronger than simple sentiment. He is widely seen as one of the figures who helped lay the foundations for Croatia’s later success, including the era built around Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Ivan Perisic. His first spell in charge helped Croatia dream bigger, and the memory of the famous 3-2 win over England at Wembley in 2007 still carries weight.

That victory mattered not just for the result, but for what it represented: Croatia winning because they believed they could, not just because they hoped to survive. Bilic has returned with that same tone in mind.

England test offers early measuring stick

The first real examination of the new Bilic era comes quickly. Croatia face England in Rijeka in the Nations League on Saturday, a fixture that will immediately reveal how far his ideas can travel in practice.

So far, the early signs have been mixed but intriguing. Croatia opened this chapter with a 2-1 win over Czechia in Prague, a match in which Modric scored the first goal of the new era and embraced his manager moments later. Bilic praised his captain in simple terms: “Luka is everything to us, he’s just incredible.”

That was followed by a 4-1 defeat away to Spain, though Bilic rotated heavily and the result came against a far stronger side. Even so, the game offered a hint of the size of the challenge. Croatia remain a team of experienced players, and Bilic must now decide how to inject more speed, aggression and risk without losing the core of what makes them difficult to play against.

A more aggressive Croatia?

Under Dalic, Croatia often sat deeper, accepted their underdog role and looked to strike on the break. Bilic appears to want something more assertive. His vision includes a higher press, more central defenders stepping into possession and more players arriving in advanced areas.

It is a bolder plan, and perhaps a more modern one. It also comes with obvious questions. Can a side still anchored by veterans such as Modric, Kovacic and Perisic consistently play with that kind of tempo? Can Bilic get Croatia to dominate the ball while still keeping the edge that made them so effective under Dalic?

Those questions are central to the next phase of his reign. For now, the return is less about guarantees and more about possibility. Bilic has always been a manager driven by conviction, even when the outcomes did not always match the ambition.

What this second spell could mean

Bilic once believed his Croatia team could win Euro 2012, a campaign that ended in the group stage. Yet that willingness to imagine something bigger has long been part of his appeal. He is not only back to manage a national side; he is back to challenge its limits.

As one Croatian football observer put it, the appointment feels like the windows have been opened. Bilic may no longer be the same coach he was in his first reign, but he remains charismatic, forceful and hard to ignore. England will provide an immediate answer to the question that now hangs over him: can bravery and belief turn this second coming into another defining chapter?