Morocco finishes 4th in the 2022 World Cup after losing 2-1 to Croatia.
Far from their first very tactical and very closed opposition (0-0) for their entry into the competition, Croatians and Moroccans offered Saturday, December 17 a more pleasant spectacle for the third-place match. The stake was much less than a place in the final and it was seen from the first minutes of this very open meeting.
Morocco is content with the “chocolate” medal
It only took seven minutes for Croatia to open the scoring: on a superb combination from a free kick, Perisic, found in the area, deflected a header back for Guardiola. The defender, who arrives launched, places the ball in the right corner of Yacine Bounou. It will then take just two minutes for Morocco to also recover following a free kick; defender Achraf Dari took advantage of a deflection from Croatian Majer to adjust his header in the box and beat Livakovic (9′).
Croatia with two forwards
A meeting, which starts on good offensive bases, is undoubtedly encouraged by the organization of the men of Zlatko Dalic who play for the first time with two attackers. The Vatreni will thus have great opportunities to regain the advantage by Kramaric with a header (18th) and Livaja who is overtaken in extremis by Bounou in the area.
It will be necessary to wait until just before half-time to see Croatia concretize its domination with a superb achievement from Orsic (42nd). The right side, who plays on the left, takes advantage of a loss of the Moroccan ball and the shift from Livaja to lodge the ball at the far post against a helpless Bounou. Morocco, which had taken only one goal before the semi-finals, has just conceded four in two matches.
A historic fourth place for the Atlas Lions
In the second half, despite the new blood brought by the entry of five players, the Atlas Lions came up against Croatia, which had regained its defensive organization, on which many teams, apart from Argentina, broke their teeth. Youssef En-Nesyri will have the opportunity to set the record straight, but he loses his duel against Livakovic (75th).
Morocco lost and finished fourth in the World Cup, but it had written history long before. This place consecrates the first African team and the Arab world to finish in the last four of the World Cup.
