With nothing left to lose but only to gain pride for the nation, Croatia and Morocco will face each other on December 17, 2022 at the Khalifa International Stadium, Qatar, for the third place in the FIFA World Cup 2022. Morocco has surely been a surprise package with its rock-solid defense. Croatia, however, is not new to such situations.
Morocco faced France in the semi final round of the FIFA World Cup 2022. The final tally stood at 2-0 in favor of France, giving Croatia confidence that it can do wonders again in the international tournament.
The Messi-led Argentina defeated Croatia 3-0 in the semi-final on December 14, 2022. Dalic now hopes to finish third and return home with their heads held high with pride. It is worth a try to finish in the top three of a tournament that imposes tremendous pressure.
Morocco is the first African nation to compete in the FIFA World Cup semifinals. The team’s drive to reach the final may have diminished, but the fact that third place is still up for grabs gives them hope for a strong finish.
Regragui has lost three of his best players while competing with France. These include Saiss, Aguerd, and Mazraoui. Unlike France, Regragui has limited options to put the best team on the field. The defending stretch has been good, with only three goals conceded so far. However, Mbappe and Griezmann have shown that the wall can be shattered by applying pressure right from the beginning.
Dalic and his men have faced Morocco before. The head-to-head history has two matches, with one ending in a draw and the other with a win for Croatia.
In the Semifinal round, both teams lost to their respective opponents without scoring a single goal. Even victory in the Quarter-Finals was not easy to achieve. With luck favoring Regragui, Morocco could only score one goal against Portugal’s nil, as Cristiano Ronaldo’s squad kept narrowly missing its shots.
Brazil and Croatia ended their knockout event with one goal each to take the match to the penalty round. All hail Livakovic for stopping the shots of Rodrygo and Marquinhos, as these two moments precisely kept the World Cup giants in the losing corner.
Croatia enters the Third-Place Play-Off with a winning margin of 41% against 31% for Morocco. The FIFA World Cup 2022 might have seen a couple of upsets and surprises, but the third place is, according to several football sports betting sites, more likely to go to Croatia with a 2-0 score in its favor.
The Third-Place Play-Off will be followed by the concluding event, where Argentina and France will face each other on December 18, 2022, at Lusail Stadium, Qatar.
