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| (L-R) Martin Erlic of Croatia, Josko Gvardiol of Croatia, Josip Sutalo of Croatia, Marko Livaja of Croatia, Luka Modric of Croatia, Mario Pasalic of Croatia celebrating the world cup third place during the World Cup match between Croatia v Morocco at the Khalifa International Stadium on December 17, 2022 in Doha Qatar. |
Croatia showed their class once more by clinching their third top-three finish at the World Cup with a play-off victory over history-makers Morocco.
Zlatko Dalic’s side were runners-up tlo France four years ago and confirmed their status as one of the elite footballing nations with another third-place finish to go alongside that secured in their competition debut in 1998.
In a frantic opening, Josko Gvardiol gave Croatia the lead on seven minutes with a superb diving header but Achraf Dari levelled just two minutes later by nodding home from close range.
Mislav Orsic curled in a sumptuous second for Croatia via the post three minutes before half-time and struck a thumping, deflected drive into the side-netting after the break.
The second half could not match the energy of a thrilling opening period and Morocco failed to find an equaliser as a fruitful campaign ended in back-to-back defeats.
