FIFA World Cup 2022: Croatia vs Morocco - Preview

Croatia

A stubborn Croatia was breached by Argentina in the semifinal and the biggest highlight of that match was the mismatch between the former's best defender, young Josko Gvardiol, and Lionel Messi. The masked warrior, and one of the most in-demand defenders in Europe, was torn apart by the genius Number 10 as Messi put on a magical performance that saw Argentina comfortably score thrice against the disciplined Croatian defence.

After opening the scoring from the penalty spot, and seeing Julian Alvarez run half the pitch's length to double Argentina's lead, the 35-year-old Messi rolled back the years and started his run from just inside the Croatian half with Gvardiol guarding him closely.

But despite the attention, Messi entered the Croatian penalty box pretty much unchallenged, spun the 20-year-old defender and squared the ball to Alvarez, who slotted home the goal from less than six yards away.
But despite the 'humiliation' from arguably the greatest player on the planet, Gvardiol and his Croatian teammates can hold their heads high. The Croatians have been plucky underdogs for some time now and reached their pinnacle in 2018 when they reached the final. The team already has a bronze medal, having beaten the Dutch 2-1 in 1998 in what was their FIFA World Cup debut.
Croatia's USP has always been to take the game deep and win it in either extra time or penalties, so expect the European side to dig their feet deep on Saturday for one last time.

Expected XI: Livakovic; Juranovic, Lovren, Sutalo, Sosa; Modric, Jakic, Kovacic; Vlasic, Kramaric, Perisic

Morocco

Despite the 2-0 loss to France, Morocco had already made history by being the first African side to make it to the last-four stage of a FIFA World Cup. And if it had just a bit more of a killer instinct against Les Bleus, Morocco could have ventured into uncharted territory and written itself into football folklore. Alas, it wasn't meant to be as the superior French side expectedly came out on top.
But Morocco did not go out without a fight as it did come very close to scoring a couple of times but Theo Hernandez's acrobatic volley in the 5th minute and substitute Randal Kolo Muani's open-goal tap-in just 44 seconds after coming onto the pitch ended the fairytale run of the Atlas Lions.

Just like its opponent, Morocco too can return home with their heads held high as until the France game it did not concede a single goal to an opposition player. They still have incentives to fight for as Morocco could be the first team since Spain in 2010 to keep five clean sheets in a single World Cup. And a bronze medal around the players's neck would just be the icinng on the cake.

Expected XI: Bono; Hakimi, El-Yamiq, Dari, Attiyat-Allah; Ounahi, Amrabat, Amallah; Ziyech, En-Nesyri, Boufal

What to expect

The two teams have already met in the tournament in Group F and both sides did more than was expected of them as Morocco finished top of Group F while Croatia settled for second, above group favourite Belgium.

Croatia and Morocco played out a goalless draw and conceded only 2 shots on target each, with the Croatians limited to 5 attempts at goal while the latter had 8.

However, Croatia had more ball possession (65 per cent) and completed more passes (642 to 348), while the North African side was happy to soak up the pressure and hit the opposition on the break.

Therefore, Saturday could see a similarly steadfast defensive showing between the two teams as Croatia and Morocco play for more than just honour.