Croatia finishes third at FIFA World Cup 2022 after beating Morocco by 2-1

Croatia finished its FIFA World Cup 2022 campaign in style by beating Morocco 2-1 to take the third place in a fast pace game, played on Saturday (December 17).

Though this is its second consecutive failed attempt at reaching finals since its runners-up position in FIFA World Cup 2018, the team celebrates the win.

The game was highlighted with Mislav Orsic’s first-half strike inside the first nine minutes, which was met with an equally engaging response by Achraf Dari cancelling out Josko Gvardiol’s opener for Croatia.


With a gritty 1-1 the match had paved the way for a bronze medal for both sides after their loss against Argentina and France. Moroccan fans, who turned up in massive numbers to support their team in Qatar jeered the Croatian players with their whistles but Croatian fans were no less in spirit.

It was 4 minutes before halftime when Mislav Orsic managed to clear yet another goal giving Croatia a second breakthrough for the night. He gets a brilliant pass from Marko Livaja and fights his way out from a defender to hit his target.
After halftime, the game saw Croatia's Mislav Orsic receiving a good pass from Ivan Perisic but failing to pursue it.


Morocco's Youssef En Nesyri responded with equal intensity dribbling the ball into the opponent's box but failing to cross the defender, missing his chance of granting Morocco their second breakthrough.

As the teams trailed by 2-1, Morocco made some changes in the line-up with Bilal El replaced by Khannous Azzedine Ounahi for the rest of the game.

Hindrances such as these did not deter Croatia from its aim as it defended itself through the second half. Croatia’s victory secured the team a top three position in the World Cup.

This is the third top three finish for Croatia, who also came third in the 1998 edition, beating the Netherlands with a similar scoreline of 2-1.

FAQs:

1. What is Croatia’s position in the FIFA World Cup 2022, Qatar?
   With its win against Morocco, Croatia now stands at the third position in FIFA World Cup 2022.
2. How many goals did Croatia score to win?
   The score tally at the end was 2-1 with Croatia scoring 2 goals before halftime.