The Croatia national football team (Croatian: Hrvatska nogometna reprezentacija) represents Croatia in association football and is governed by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS). Sides were active during periods of political upheaval, representing sovereign entities such as the Banovina of Croatia from 1939 to 1941 or the Independent State of Croatia from 1941 to 1944. The team representing the Republic has played competitive matches since 1994 starting with the qualifying campaign for the UEFA Euro 1996.