This Saturday, the 17th, Croatia and Morocco will decide for third place in the World Cup. The confrontation is scheduled for 12h (Brasília time), at the Khalifa International Stadium. Whoever wins gets the bronze medal of the competition.
After falling to Argentina in the semifinals, the Croatians are going in search of the third medal in the country’s history in World Cups. In 1998, in Croatia’s first participation in the tournament, the team led by top scorer Suker won bronze against the Netherlands.
In 2018, in the Russian Cup, the Croatians hit the post and won the silver medal, after losing the final to France.
This will probably be the star’s farewell. A Real Madrid player and leader Luka Modric of the Croatian national team, the 37-year-old midfielder, who was elected the star of the last Cup, must retire his national team boot.
After a campaign marked by extensions, Croatia arrives for the decision with doubts due to physical exhaustion. Starting with three starters: right-back Josip Juranovic, defender Dejan Lovren and midfielder Marcelo Brozovic. The trio has not trained since the elimination against Argentina and should start on the bench. Vlasic, with the flu, became doubtful the day before.
The Croatian press is betting that Zlatko Dalic will repeat the scheme of matches against Canada and Belgium in the group stage, when he used Kramaric as a right winger and a fixed center forward. With that, Livaja returns to the starting lineup.
On the other hand, Morocco is going in search of the first medal in the history of an African country in World Cups. The Moroccans were the first on the continent to reach a semi-final. The dream of the title ended in the defeat to France, but now they duel against the Croats for the third place.
In the history of the confrontation, there are only two matches between the two countries. By the way, the last one was in this World Cup. In the first round of the group stage, Morocco and Croatia were 0-0. The other game was in 1996, a friendly that ended 2-2.
Suffering from wear and tear and injuries, coach Walid Regragui signaled that he will choose whoever is better physically. The embezzlement of captain Roman Saïss is certain. The defender, who had been injured against Portugal, started against France and ended up being substituted. He gives way to Dari. Nayef Aguerd, who was injured in the Round of 16 tie against Spain, is expected to remain out. El Yamiq takes his place.
Mazrouai will also be low, as he did not play against Portugal and returned in the sacrifice against France. Another doubt is in relation to striker En-Nesyri, who must be replaced by Zakaria.
Croatia Analysis
Until reaching this stage of the World Cup (3rd/4th place), the team had to eliminate: Argentina, Brazil and Japan. In the last 6 games for the World Cup, Croatia has three wins, two draws and one defeat. In their matches there is a tendency for few goals, since 13 of the last 31 that they played ended with Under 1.5 goals. In 15 games, he managed to turn the score around in four of the seven games in which he conceded the first goal. There is a period that stands out in the last 20 matches played in all competitions: he conceded six of the 16 goals between minutes (31’‑45′).
Morocco Analysis
The team comes to this stage of the World Cup (3rd/4th Place) after having played in previous qualifiers with: France, Portugal and Spain. In the last six matches played in the World Cup, Morocco won four, drew one and lost one. In 15 games, he only managed to turn the score around in the five games in which he conceded the first goal.
Guesses:
Croatia v Morocco tip: Andrej Kramaric scores anytime – Yes
Andrej Kramaric became one of the highlights of the team. The attacker arrived with everything and rocked the net more than once during the competition. Therefore, it would not be a big surprise if the player scored and scored another goal for Croatia in this great game.
Croatia v Morocco tip: Half time/Full time – Tie/Croatia – Yes
It’s still a mystery to know how the teams will act during the match, but considering that both are defensive, the first stage of the game could end in a tie. However, as Croatia is a team that leaves more of the defensive scheme and goes for the attack, it may be that Vatreni wins the 2nd half of the match.
