Sport has always been associated with international politics and diplomacy, but also with culture and national identity. Sports diplomacy, as part of public diplomacy, uses sports to promote and achieve foreign policy goals. Despite the importance of sports, especially sports diplomacy in contemporary international relations, the scientific field of sports and sports diplomacy is still in its infancy in Croatian academic circles, as evidenced by the very scarce number of published papers and books. For this reason, following the examples of other countries and understanding the intersection of sports and diplomacy in the global world, this review paper outlines the role of sports in promoting and branding the country in the example of the Republic of Croatia. Furthermore, the paper deals with the importance of state branding in contemporary international relations along with the role and opportunities of public and sport diplomacy in these processes. The national branding of the country achieves economic and political success as well as stronger political, economic, and cultural influence of the state. Public diplomacy as a communication process is the basis for branding states and promoting the ideas, values, and culture of individual countries. Public and sports diplomacy are important communication channels, for presenting messages designed in the national branding process to the world. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the usefulness of sports diplomacy as an important element of public diplomacy in contemporary society and to offer a conceptual framework for sports diplomacy. By linking theory and concrete examples, it demonstrates the extent to which Croatian athletes' successes help promote and create Croatia's recognition in international relations. The importance of sports and sporting competitions in creating the reputation and image of the state is presented through the comparison with foreign examples of successful branding of states through sports and the athletes are portrayed as trusted diplomats.