Croatia vs Morocco

Khalifa International Stadium forms the backdrop for a 2022 World Cup third-place playoff tie between Group F’s top-two nations, Croatia and Morocco. There’s a lot to play for in this fixture, with a place at the podium plus a reported extra $2m in prize money for the victor up for grabs.

Croatia pulled off arguably the biggest upset in Qatar by eliminating pre-tournament favourites Brazil on penalties in the quarter-finals. However, they failed to become only the second nation to crash the ‘Selecao’ and Argentina out in the same tournament as they fell to a dreadful 3-0 defeat to ‘La Albiceleste’ in the semi-finals. Argentina’s three goals equalled Croatia’s tally of three goals conceded across their first five matches at the 2022 World Cup. Indeed, Zlatko Dalic’s men have kept three clean sheets within 90 minutes in Qatar, including a drab 0-0 draw with Morocco in a curtain-raising Group F fixture. The ‘Blazers’ have registered a shutout in all three previous World Cup encounters against African nations (W2, D1). That should bolster their bid to come out on top of their second World Cup third-place playoff appearance.

No matter what happens this weekend, the Moroccans have made history this winter, becoming the first-ever African country to reach the semi-finals at the World Cup. In doing so, Morocco ousted Spain and Portugal in the first two knockout rounds before slipping to a 2-0 defeat to reigning world champions France in the semis. Interestingly, ‘Les Blues’ were the first team to score against the ‘Atlas Lions’ in Qatar, with their only previous goal conceded was Nayef Aguerd’s own goal in a 2-1 group-stage win over Canada. As a result, Walid Regragui’s men can become only the eight nation to five clean sheets in a single World Cup tournament. However, scoring has been a problem for Morocco in the knockout stages. They’ve netted just once in their three World Cup matches from the round of 16 onwards.