Croatia, with a population of just over four million people, is the smallest nation to reach the World Cup final since Uruguay in 1950, an achievement all the more remarkable as football in the country is plagued by off-field scandals.

But the team's players have been through enough.

Most of the players' parents had to flee the country during the last Balkan war, which torn the region apart when the players were only children.

TRT World'sLachlan Guselli has the story.