FIFA World Cup 2022, third place play-off: Croatia finish third in tournament post crushing Morocco 2-1

With France and Argentina set to compete against each other in the finals of the FIFA World Cup 2022 hosted by Qatar on December 18, Sunday, Morocco and Croatia faced off against each other in the third-place play-off cash on Saturday and both teams gave it their all to regain the lost pride in the semi-finals earlier. To add more, it was the Croatian star player Joško Gvardiol who opened the account for his team in the 7th minute, much to the surprise of the spectators.

When the least expected, Achraf Dari matched the lead in the 9th minute and brought Morocco back into the game, eventually resetting the game, as both teams started fighting to take the lead yet again. The first 10 minutes turned out to be an eventful one as their sloppiness cost them one goal apiece. Fans, on the other hand, were keenly awaiting the winner of the clash, given both teams have enjoyed a few surprising wins in the ongoing multinational tournament. Much to the delight of the Croatian fans, Mislav Oršić produced the lead in the 42nd minute and brought Croatia back into the game.

Morocco, Croatia fight for third place in FIFA World Cup 2022

The second half kicked off with Croatia starting off in a confident way on the back of their second goal earlier in the initial half and the deciding half turned out to be a convincing one for them as they restricted the Moroccan forwards from matching the lead. It was a heartbreaking moment for the Moroccan fans who failed to come to reality about their team lagging behind on a crucial day. At the 65-minute mark, Croatia were still leading with a scoreline of 2-1 and the Moroccan team had little to no chance to breakthrough the Croatian defence.

After thriving hard for more than 90 minutes, it was Croatia who won the game with a scoreline of 2-1 and finished third in the world's biggest sporting event. Although one could argue that the team failed to make a cut to the summit clash of the epic tournament, finishing third might give them the much needed hope to make a comeback in the next edition of the game.