Intrinsic motivation and mental toughness are some of the most common terms that come up when we think about what makes elite athletes so successful and resilient to the various factors that can greatly hinder their athletic journey and progress. Intrinsic motivation is key to developing the mental toughness of football players, as well as serving as an ideal foundation for building persistence and consistency. Most coaches and players have characterized mental toughness as one of the most important factors in ensuring the progress of an athlete or team, yet it is one of the least researched concepts in applied sports psychology. Parents and coaches play the biggest role in building the mental strength of young football players. In their approach to players, coaches must develop conversation techniques and learn how to direct criticism in the most effective way possible. In addition, the psychological preparation of athletes is also of great importance, which is an indispensable part of creating players at the top level. The research was conducted on 87 young players of a major football club in the Republic of Croatia, the aim of which was to find out if there is a relationship between intrinsic motivation and mental toughness. Descriptive analysis showed that most of the players started playing because of an exceptional desire and interest in football, which shows us that most of the respondents are intrinsically motivated to train football. On the other hand, it turned out that the respondents showed the least agreement on questions and statements related to emotional intelligence, which is shown in the paper as one of the most important items of mental toughness. This was also shown by the correlation analysis, which shows a statistically significant connection between emotional intelligence, attention control, resilience and faith in oneself and one's abilities. Also, the correlation analysis showed a statistically significant negative correlation between pressure and all factors of mental toughness. The reason is obvious, pressure creates a controlling effect and very quickly leads to frustration, loss of interest and giving up.