Croatia got a 2-1 win against Morocco on Saturday to secure a third-place finish at the 2022 World Cup. Centre-back Josko Gvardiol and winger Mislav Orsic scored for Croatia, while Achraf Dari netted the lone goal for Morocco.
All three goals were seen in the first half. Gvardiol scored a header after a free kick in the 7th minute, but Dari made it level again just two minutes later. Orsic then got the lead back for Croatia in the 42nd minute with a beautiful curler.
The second half saw Croatia kill the game, focusing on keeping the ball away from their goal and relying on counterattacks. As a result, Morocco had the ball more and managed to create some dangerous chances. Still, they didn’t capitalize on them, and the 2-1 result remained.
“This is bronze with a golden glow. We won a tough game,” said Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic. “This is a medal for the Croatian people… It’s really great that we won two medals in two tournaments, big congratulations to my players.”
While Croatia probably would have loved to play in the Finals on Sunday, this is still considered a big success for them. Despite being runners-up in 2018, many believed their aging squad wouldn’t get too far in Qatar. But the Croatians proved everyone wrong, putting in another strong performance that saw them eliminate World Cup favorites Brazil in the quarter-finals.
Croatia now has three medals in World Cup tournaments since 1998. They finished third in 1998, second in 2018, and now third again in 2022.
