Canberra is one of Australia's most Croatian communities, and the first secretary at the Croatian embassy, Sandra Tvrtkovic, said it was difficult to put into words just how much the game meant for her country.

‘‘To win would be a dream come true for our small country, plus for Croatians around the world. We are really just living the dream now. Hoping and cheering for the victory,’’ Mrs Tvrtkovic said during a visit to the French embassy for some friendly banter with French ambassador Christophe Penot.

With a population of only 4.1 million, Croatia is the smallest country to reach the World Cup final since Uruguay in 1950.

For France, with one huge World Cup win under its belt, it's less about hoping than knowing.

"It's the third time we've reached this stage in twenty years, it shows France has become a great football nation, one of the major ones," Mr Penot said.

"I don't take Croatia for granted, I think they are a very strong side, but this time I'm confident we can win the second star. I'm confident, because we have a strong team."

France beat Croatia in the semi-finals of the World Cup 20 years ago and Mrs Tvrtkovic and Mr Penot both acknowledge what a tense game the 1998 semi-final was, but neither will let the past get in their way.

"This could become a frequent sporting contest between our two nations, Croatia have been a strong side for some years now," Mr Penot said.

"It was not an easy game in 1998, and there is no such thing as an easy game. They were strong in that semi-final, and they still are now. We have to make sure we play our best game."

The feeling of blitzing through the earlier World Cup rounds to enter the final is still quite fresh for the Croatians.

"What our team has achieved so far is probably beyond a lot of our expectations, our imaginations," Mrs Tvrtkovic said.

"Come Sunday night, it will be a lot of fun to be surrounded by all my compatriots who share the same passion for football and for Croatia."

The most "Croatian" of Australia's 102 towns and cities, as measured by the proportion of residents with Croatian ancestry in the 2016 census, is Geelong, followed by Canberra. Canberrans are twice as likely to be Croatian than other Australians.

Nationally, one in 245 Australians say they have Croatian ancestry, compared with one in 434 claiming French ancestry.

Mrs Tvrtkovic’s soccer passion is echoed throughout Canberra’s Croatian community and despite the Socceroos being knocked out weeks ago, plenty of Canberrans are revving up for the 1am match on Monday.

"We are beyond excited. This is certainly a huge achievement for Croatia. We love our country and our soccer, so when these two collide it's absolutely magical," marketing manager at the Croatia Deakin Soccer Club Emma Bickley said.

"Social media on Thursday was flooded with images from the youngest to the oldest, everyone was celebrating."

In the early hours of Thursday, the club had more than 100 members of the Croatian community meet for the nailbiting semi-final.

For the final in the small hours of Monday morning, the club expects even more fans to rock up weary-eyed but ready for victory.

"We estimate that there may be up to as many as 10,000 people in the ACT and Queanbeyan region who identify as having Croatian heritage," Mrs Bickley said.

Since 1958, the Croatia Deakin Soccer Club have kept its love of soccer and honouring of their cultural heritage "closely intertwined."

Mrs Bickley said their club Canberra FC was the most successful in the ACT. Their secret weapons? Raw talent, fierce supporters and just a pinch of luck.

"We've all nicknamed the Croatian national soccer team "Vatreni"', which basically means "on fire". Which is exactly what they are right now.

"We also called our club bistro Vatreni a while ago, so we do wonder if that had anything to do with the team's success," she said.