FIFA World Cup 2022: Croatia ends campaign in third place with win over Morocco
The 2018 runners-up Croatia did all the damage in the first half to claim a 2-1 victory over Morocco in the third-place play-off match at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Football
Croatia injected a pinch of ingenuity for a 2-1 victory over Morocco in their bronze-medal clash on Saturday (17 December) to end their FIFA World Cup campaign in third place.
The Europeans add the bronze to the silver they won four years ago, denying the Atlas Lions and the African continent its first top-three finish at the football showpiece.
The Moroccans will nevertheless be proud of their run at Qatar 2022, where they became the first African and Arab nation to reach this late stage of the tournament. The North Africans broke new ground as the first team from the continent to advance to the World Cup semi-finals.
They missed out on a berth in the final after suffering a 2-0 defeat to defending champions France to set up the clash against the Croatians for a shot at the consolation prize.
Croatia, in turn, were denied passage to a second consecutive final by Argentina who cruised past them with a 3-0 victory in their semi-final.
The third-place play-off match kicked off in emphatic fashion, with each side scoring in the first 10 minutes, with Croatia firing the opening salvo only for Morocco to respond almost immediately.
Croatia scored seven minutes into the clash courtesy of a brilliantly worked set piece from a free kick. Ivan Perišić back-headered the ball across the face of the goal to Josko Gvardiol, who launched himself forward for a diving header into the back corner of the net.
Morocco returned the favour two minutes later with Achraf Dari landing the equaliser: the defender pounced on a looping ball nodded by Luka Modrić and falling into his path.
The Atlas Lions looked threatening in the wake of the tit-for-tat start to the contest, but it was the Croatians that got the most value from their efforts.
Croatia struck a decisive blow shortly before the half-time break with Mislav Orsic curling the ball into the net via the post.