Croatia defeated fellow semifinalists Morocco 2-1 to secure third place at the 2022 World Cup.
The 2nd goalless draw of the tournament was served up by Croatia and Morocco back on the 4th day of the competition. It was a lacklustre point for the 2018 champions and the first of seven that Morocco would earn on their path to winning a group that included two of the semifinalists from last year. Considering that it was Group F’s first game, neither team wanted to lose. Less was at stake during their curtain call, in part because the teams coming out of either side of the tunnel had already accomplished a lot. The goals came quickly after, and Saturday’s third-place game holds the record for having both teams score in a World Cup game the earliest.
Ivan Perisic’s perfectly executed set piece into the box resulted in the opening goal for Croatia, which was scored in the seventh minute by Josko Gvardiol on a diving header after Perisic’s directed header found him in a dangerous position. Gvardiol broke the record for being the youngest player to score for Croatia at the World Cup, which had been held by Ivica Olic since 2002 against Italy. It was Perisic’s 11th goal involvement in 17 World Cup games; Lionel Messi, with 16 goals since the tournament began in 2014, has only one more.
Morocco’s turn came after less than two minutes from a set piece on the right side. It entered the box via Hakim Ziyech’s left foot, and after being deflected by a Croatian defender, it was placed in the goal by Achraf Dari’s head. After a Croatian rebound at the top of the box, Mislav Orsic scored Croatia’s second goal in the closing seconds of the first half with a shot off the far post and in. Marko Livaja provided the assist.
The next significant attempt came from Nikola Vlasic in the 70th minute, but the forward missed the goal of Morocco as the second half neared its conclusion. When Gvardiol was brought down inside the penalty area by Sofyan Amrabat in the 74th minute, Croatia had a strong claim for a penalty, but the referee was unconcerned. When Achraf Hakimi went down, there was a VAR check on a potential penalty for Morocco, but the challenge was outside of the area.
When Mateo Kovacic broke into the Moroccan penalty area in the 87th minute, he had a chance to end the game, but his shot went wide of the post. After that, Morocco had a fantastic opportunity to tie the score in the sixth minute of extra time at the end of the 90, but their header was just a bit too high, allowing Croatia to win in regular time.
FOLLOW THIS ARTICLE ON TWITTER
READ MORE;
Serie A legend Mihajlovic dies aged 53 after long battle with leukemia
Adrien Rabiot is reportedly offered to Barcelona by Juventus