Luka Modrić of Croatia plays against Achraf Hakimi of Morocco in the World Cup third place play-off between Croatia and Morocco at Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar on Saturday.
Thanassis Stavrakis/AP
hide captions
switch captions
Thanassis Stavrakis/AP
AL RAYYAN, Qatar — Luka Modrić led Croatia to third place in the great midfielder’s final appearance at the World Cup.
The runner-up four years ago won another medal, beating Morocco 2-1 in a third-place match on Saturday.
Mislav Oršić scored the winning goal just before halftime at Khalifa International Stadium to ensure Modrić finished the match with a win, should this turn out to be his last World Cup match.
At 37, that seems possible, even if there are high hopes he will lead his country at the 2024 European Championship.
Joško Gvardiol gave Croatia the lead in the seventh minute, but Achraf Dari sealed the score in the ninth minute.
This is the second time Croatia has won third place. The team also achieved that feat in its first World Cup as an independent nation in 1998.
After becoming the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, Morocco’s tournament ended with two losses. But the team’s achievements in Qatar will be remembered for the pride of the Arab nations.
The World Cup final between defending champions France and Argentina is scheduled for Sunday at Lusail Stadium.
The third place match was seen by some as a pointless performance. Even Moroccan coach Walid Regragui described it as a “sweet bonus” in the build-up. But neither team lacks momentum in a fiercely contested showdown between the two nations that few expect to go far.
That was highlighted by a string of players who needed to be substituted for injury in the second half as Morocco tried to find the equalizer.
The teams played to a 0-0 draw in the group stage and reached the semi-finals thanks to a solid defence, with a total of six losses. The goal is not a matter of this time.
Maybe it’s because of the relative freedom to play in a supposedly low-risk game. At least, another factor for Morocco is the absence of three key defenders, Romain Saïss, Nayef Aguerd and Noussair Mazraoui.
The impact of those absences was felt as Croatia took the lead thanks to Gvardiol’s sunken header. In a clever move, Ivan Perišić took a free-kick in the middle of the box and the centre-back did the rest.
Morocco retaliated two minutes later when Lovro Majer inadvertently helped Hakim Ziyech take a free kick and Dari headed the opener.
However, Croatia took the lead three minutes before halftime.
Oršić receives the ball from the left side of the box and has a shot at the top corner of the goal. Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou touched the ball but was only able to push the ball to the post when it went into the net.
