Eternal derby (Croatia)

Eternal derby
Croatian derby

Eternal Derby at Stadion Poljud in 2006
Other names	Vječni derbi Hrvatski derbi
Location	Croatia (Zagreb and Split)
Teams	Dinamo Zagreb Hajduk Split
First meeting	26 May 1946
Latest meeting	Dinamo Zagreb 0–1 Hajduk Split (2024–25 HNL)
Statistics
Meetings total	243 official matches (199 league)
Most wins	Dinamo Zagreb (105)
Top scorer	Slaven Zambata (12)
Largest victory	Dinamo Zagreb 0–6 Hajduk Split 1954–55 Yugoslav First League (3 April 1955)

Eternal Derby (Croatian: Vječni derbi) also known as the Croatian Derby (Croatian: Hrvatski derbi), is the name given to matches between the two biggest and most popular Croatian football clubs Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split.

The rivalry can be traced back to 1920s when Zagreb's Građanski and Hajduk often clashed in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia championships. After World War II, Građanski was disbanded by the authorities, and Dinamo Zagreb was formed to take its place, retaining its colours. The two clubs soon became part of the "Big Four" of Yugoslav football (the other two being Red Star Belgrade and Partizan Belgrade from Serbia) ever since the Yugoslav championship was established in 1946 (both clubs spent their entire existence playing top-flight football). This lasted until 1991, when Croatia declared independence so clubs started competing in the Prva HNL, which saw its first season being played in 1992. Since 1992 Dinamo and Hajduk won 25 out of 27 Croatian championship titles, as well as 21 out of 27 Croatian Cups, which makes them by far the most successful clubs in Croatia.

Due to various formats that were used in the Croatian championship (which currently employs a four-round robin format) and the cup competition format (which has teams playing one-legged fixtures even in the final game) and in addition to the games played in the Supercup, there can be anywhere from four to six derbies per season. Since the first official match in 1946, there have been over 200 official derbies played in total.