Croatia's footballers, who won third place in the World Cup in Qatar on Saturday, were given a heroes' welcome in the capital city on Sunday evening.

After their plane landed at Zagreb’s  Franjo Tudjman Airport shortly after 5 pm, the tourism and sports minister, Nikolina Brnjac, and other officials were there to meet the team, who then headed for the main square by bus on a route where traffic was specially regulated. Already along the route, thousands of people, most of whom were dressed in red and white chequered jerseys, were standing and waving national flags to greet the country’s sporting heroes.

Just like four years ago, when the national team won silver at the World Cup in Russia, a welcome ceremony and a special programme were organised in Zagreb’s main square, which was full of singing and chanting fans, many carrying flags and national insignia, braving the freezing temperatures.

Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said in the afternoon that an estimated 80,000 supporters arrived on the main square, adding he expected the figure to grow later in the evening.

The arrival of the national team at the main square at about 7.30 pm Sunday was the climax of the ceremony.

Several top officials, including Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and a few cabinet ministers were also in the crowd.

Croatia won the first bronze at the World Cup in France in 1998, when the national team’s coach was Miroslav “Ciro” Blazevic.

Four years ago, Croatia, led by coach Zlatko Dalic, reached the finals in Russia when they were beaten by France, and this year, Croatia reached semi-finals in which they were beaten by Argentina. In the third-place play-off, Croatia, under the baton of coach Dalic, defeated Morocco (2-1).