Nikola Vlašić of Hajduk and Mate Maleš of Rijeka will miss Croatia's appearance at the first edition of China Cup, and head coach Čačić has called up midfielders Fran Tudor of Hajduk and Luka Ivanušec of Lokomotiva.

The national team meets on 7 January in Zagreb, to travel immediately to China. On 11 January, Croatia starts against Chile, while the other semifinal will be contested by Iceland and China. The defeated semifinalists face each other on 14 January in a third-place match, and the winners decide the China Cup title on 15 January.

Croatia squad for China Cup:

Goalkeepers: Andrej Prskalo (Rijeka), Dominik Livaković (Dinamo)

Defenders: Matej Mitrović (Rijeka), Josip Pivarić (Dinamo), Borna Barišić (Osijek), Mateo Barać (Osijek), Josip Juranović (Hajduk), Jakov Filipović (Inter), Toni Datković (Koper).

Midfielders: Josip Mišić (Rijeka), Luka Ivanušec (Lokomotiva), Franko Andrijašević (Rijeka), Mario Šitum (Dinamo), Domagoj Antolić (Dinamo), Fran Tudor (Hajduk), Filip Ozobić (Qabala)

Strikers: Antonio Perošević (Osijek), Mirko Marić (Lokomotiva)