This summer, Croatia will play in the World Cup Group A against hosts Brazil, Cameroon and Mexico, and on March 5th, Niko Kovač's men will play a friendly preparation match against the Swiss national team.

The match is scheduled for 20:30 CET, at the AFG Arena in St. Gallen. Croatian national football team will meet on Sunday, March 2nd in Zagreb, and leave for Switzerland on Tuesday.

"We have invited 27 players due to the organizational reasons, since this will be our only gathering before the final World Cup preparations. 18 players will travel to Switzerland", explained the head coach.

"This is not the definitive player selection for the World Cup. There is still time, and we are well aware of the players' form. Nobody has the guaranteed ticket, and those players that are not on the list this time are not written off", added Kovač.

foto: Drago Sopta/HNS

"We are only three matches away from the opening match with Brazil and I hope to use them to give the final touch to our style of play. The Switzerland match will be a good test, since the Swiss were the seeded team at the World Cup draw. Croatia will try to get a positive result and good performance. We can always use more boost", he said.

Croatia's list of candidates for friendly match in Switzerland:

Goalkeepers: Stipe Pletikosa (Rostov), Danijel Subašić (Monaco)

Defenders: Darijo Srna (Shakhtar), Igor Bubnjić (Udinese), Domagoj Vida (Dynamo Kiev), Vedran Ćorluka (Lokomotiv), Dejan Lovren (Southampton), Danijel Pranjić (Panathinaikos), Gordon Schildenfeld (Panathinaikos), Šime Vrsaljko (Genoa), Ivan Strinić (Dnipro), Hrvoje Milić (Rostov)

Midfielders: Ivan Rakitić (Sevilla), Luka Modrić (Real Madrid), Ivan Perišić (Wolfsburg), Mateo Kovačić (Inter), Milan Badelj (HSV), Niko Kranjčar (QPR), Ivo Iličević (HSV), Mate Maleš (Rijeka), Ognjen Vukojević (Dynamo Kiev)

Strikers: Mario Mandžukić (Bayern), Ivica Olić (Wolfsburg), Eduardo Alves da Silva (Shakhtar), Nikica Jelavić (Hull City), Leon Benko (Rijeka), Ante Rebić (Fiorentina).