Mladost Ždralovi

It was not the first time a bigger name had ended their cup run early — in the last 16 of the 2012/13 competition, Dinamo Zagreb had beaten them 2:3. The club has spent most of its history working through Croatia's lower divisions from the Stadion „Brdo". Treća HNL – North is where Mladost Ždralovi has done its winning. The second of those promotions came with a play-off for a place in the Second League, and NK Jarun shut the door on it, 1:0. The most recent step came in 2025/26: a fourth-place finish in Druga NL was enough to send Mladost Ždralovi up into Prva NL, the third tier of the Croatian pyramid. The youth sides had already shown the way once, with the juniors and cadets winning their own Second League North titles in 2011/12 and 2013/14. Every promotion push so far has stopped at the same door.