Croatia head coach Slaven Bilic said he agreed not to call up Adrian Segecic and any other Under-21 players as they are preparing for European Championship qualifiers, though the new boss highlighted the form of the Australian-born forward.
Segecic was not among the list of 26 players – headlined by Luka Modric – called up by Bilic for Croatia’s Nations League fixtures against Czechia (September 27 AEST), Spain (September 30 AEST) and England (October 4 AEST).
The 22-year-old Portsmouth star switched his allegiance from Australia to Croatia in March and while he has represented the European nation at U21 level, he is yet to make his debut for the 2018 FIFA World Cup runners-up.
INTERVIEW: Segecic’s father explains Socceroos call to Football360
Bilic, who replaced Croatian great Zlatko Dalic for his second spell in charge, explained the absence of Segecic and Co ahead of the U21 European Championship qualifiers against Hungary (September 27 AEST), Ukraine (October 2 AEST) and Lithuania (October 6 AEST).
“I didn’t call up any of the U21 players, who I believe will one day become key players for the national team,” the former West Ham boss told reporters.
“I agreed with (head coach Ivica) Olic that they should stay with him, as they have EURO qualifiers coming up.”
📜 Upon his return as #Croatia head coach, Slaven Bilić presents the squad list for the upcoming #NationsLeague encounters in September and October! 🇭🇷✨ #UNL #HrabarBroj #Family #Vatreni❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/5q7fNe4vxO
— HNS (@HNS_CFF) September 7, 2026
Segecic has scored two goals for Portsmouth across all competitions this season, while he has found the back of the net 13 times since arriving from Sydney FC last year.
On the profile of forwards selected in this Croatia squad, Bilic added: “(Franjo) Ivanovic can also play on the wing, he is more of an attacking winger. (Andrej Kramaric) Krama is Krama, he can play all four positions. Other four players [(Dion Drena) Beljo, (Ante) Budimir, (Igor) Matanovic, (Petar) Musa] are similar, but at the same time different, in terms of energy, experience, link-up play, and so on.
“There will not be six of them on the list anymore. I want to see them now. The Nations League is preparation for the Euros, and we want to achieve a big result at the Euros. These matches are also important to us because of the Euro qualifying draw.
“Six forwards is a little too many for me. But looking ahead to the Euros, I want to see them now.
“There could still be players emerging from the youth national team, such as Soticek, perhaps Sego. Segecic, Jagusic, and Majer are also playing very well.”
“You have to remember that Adrian also played a number of times for Croatia’s Diaspora teams, so he was always on their radar from a very young age,” he told Football360.
“Adrian certainly wasn’t phoning around. The Croatians were calling us. The federation were fully aware of him for many years, and went out their way to make it known they wanted him.
“After that Aussie camp for the New Zealand games Adrian heard nothing more from the Socceroos. There was no contact with Popovic. Really nothing.
“He also lost his place in the Portsmouth team on returning to England and had to wait his turn again.
“Adrian didn’t expect any special treatment or favours from Popovic. I’m not sure whether Popovic took him for granted or not.
“But when the communication is lacking, it becomes very difficult.”
Segecic senior added: “With Croatia there was total respect from the get go and they just had that willingness to bring him on board.
“There was no pressure at all – they told him to take a couple of weeks to think things through (before making any decisions).
“When he made his mind up they came back and said whatever he needed they’d do for him.
“Adrian spoke with some former Socceroos and they said he’d made the right call.”