October, Kovačić suffered an injury in training and then tested positive for COVID-19 upon recovery from it in early December. He returned to the team on 19 December, in a goalless draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers. On 2 January 2022, he initiated a comeback in a 2–2 home draw with Liverpool; he scored Chelsea's first goal while they were two goals down. He later won the Premier League Goal of the Month and the Chelsea Goal of the Season for this goal. Six days later, Kovačić captained Chelsea for the first time in a 5–1 victory over Chesterfield in the FA Cup. On October 22, 2022, Kovacic gained notoriety after a game with Manchester United, when he gave his jersey and shorts to the fans, and ran off the field wearing just a pair of tight black briefs. International career Kovačić appeared for the Croatian national team at various youth levels, debuting in May 2008 in an under-14 friendly match against Slovakia. Since 2011, he was a regular member of the Croatia under-19 and under-21 teams. In August 2012, Kovačić received his first competitive call-up for the Croatian senior team match against Switzerland, but did not play because of injury. Subsequently, he received a call up for 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification matches in March 2013. He made his senior debut in a qualification match against Serbia on 22 March 2013, playing as a central midfielder alongside Luka Modrić, instead of a regular team starter, Ognjen Vukojević. Four days later, he played against Wales at the Liberty Stadium, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 1–2 win. His third match of the campaign came in June, when Croatia faced Scotland in Zagreb and suffered a frustrating defeat as they were unable to score despite a string of good chances. By the end of the qualifiers, Kovačić made two more competitive appearances for Croatia, as Croatia scraped into the FIFA World Cup play-offs having taken only one point from their last four qualifiers. Although he didn't participate in the scoreless first leg of the play-off against Iceland in Reykjavík, Kovačić started the second and decisive leg between the two national teams in Zagreb, making an assist for the team's second goal as they reached the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals 2–0 on aggregate. On 2 June 2014, Kovačić was confirmed as a member of Niko Kovač's World Cup squad. He was