Bisnis.com, JAKARTA – Croatia will face Morocco in the race for third place in the 2022 World Cup which will take place at the Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday (17/12/2022) at 22:00 WIB.
Both teams failed to qualify for the final as they were beaten by their respective opponents in the semi-finals. Croatia beat Argentina 3-0. Meanwhile, Morocco must be prepared to give up hope of qualifying for the final as they were beaten 2-0 by France.
As a result, Vatreni – Croatia’s nickname – and the Atlas Lions had to settle for only fighting for third place in the 2022 World Cup. Even so, the game was still meaningful for both teams.
Croatian player Andrej Kramaric said the match against Morocco was not just a consolation. “Morocco fought for its life, because if you win a medal in a world cup, you become an eternal hero in your country. It’s the same as we will [Kroasia] do it,” he told ESPN on Friday (12/16/2022).
He said the Croatian team will also fight until the end to win a medal. “A total of 8 players from our team won medals in Russia [Piala Dunia 2022] as finalists. They already understand the feeling of winning medals and we have a lot of players who haven’t experienced it yet, so I wanted to do it because it’s something that will stick,” Kramaric said.
Third place in the 2022 World Cup will indeed earn a bronze medal. Additionally, the team that comes third will receive US$27 million in prize money. For those who lose and are in fourth place, they will receive money and will not get a medal.
Meanwhile, for Croatian captain Luka Modric, the game against Morocco was his last World Cup game. He wanted his last game to end with a win.
“Win the game and come back to Croatia with a medal,” said Modric.
Croatia themselves will appear in full force in the match for third place. Unlike Morocco, since against France, the Atlas Lions have been plagued with multi-pillar injury problems.
“It will be a challenge. We had a lot of missing players in the last match,” Moroccan national team coach Walid Reragui said.
Morocco have lost their flagship defender Nayef Aguerd to injury. During the match against France, team captain Romain Saïss was also injured.
Expected composition of Croatia vs Morocco players:
Croatia (4-3-3)
Dominik Livakovic; Josip Juranovic, Dejan Lovren, Josko Gvardiol, Borna Sosa; Luca Modric, Marcelo Brozovic, Mateo Kovacic; Lovro Majer, Bruno Petkovic, Nikola Vlasic.
Morocco (4-3-3)
Yassine Bounou; Achraf Hakimi, Achraf Dari, Jawad El Yamiq, Noussair Mazraoui; Sofyan Amrabat, Abdessamad Ezzalzouli, Azzedine Ounahi; Hakim Ziyech, Youssef En-Nesyri, Sofiane Boufal.
Croatia vs. Morocco Stats
– Croatia is currently ranked 12th in FIFA, while Morocco is ranked 22nd.
– Croatia managed to take second place in Group F with 5 points in 2 draws against Belgium and Morocco, and a victory against Canada.
– In the round of 16, Croatia beat Japan on penalties.
– In the quarter-finals, Croatia eliminated Brazil on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
– Croatia failed in the semi-finals after losing to Argentina 3-0.
– Morocco, which is in the same group as Croatia, managed to win Group F with 7 points in 2 wins against Belgium and Canada, and a draw against Croatia.
– In the round of 16, Morocco won on penalties against Spain.
– In the quarter-finals, Morocco met Portugal and managed to win with the score of 1-0.
– Morocco failed in the semi-finals after losing to France 2-0.
Head to head Croatia vs Morocco
1 time Meeting
1 draw
Last meeting
23/11/2022: Morocco 0-0 Croatia
Score prediction for Croatia vs Morocco:
Final score prediction according to WhoScored, Croatia 0-0 Morocco.
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