CIES has released a list of countries with the greatest number of football players playing in 135 foreign leagues around the world.
Croatia has 400 players playing abroad, which is 81 more compared with 2017, ranking eighth country in the world. Serbia is ninth with 379 players playing abroad.
Brasil has the most players abroad (1,219), followed by France (978) and Argentina (815).
If the number of players abroad per capita is taken into account, with its population of 3.8 million, Croatia ranks first.
The impact of Croatia's players abroad is illustrated in club competitions. Croatia's midfielder Luka Modrić will play in the Champions League final match in Real Madrid versus Liverpool. This will be the eleventh year in a row that a Croatian player will play in the final of such an elite competition.
Two Croatian players, Borna Barišić and Kristian Jakić, will play in the UEFA Europa League final between Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt.