Croatia - Morocco: The peak of defensive confrontation

Despite not reaching the final, both Croatia and Morocco have left an impression despite not being highly rated before the tournament. The playing style that both teams applied in most of their matches was relatively similar, always actively defending, trying to control the midfield and not giving the opponent much space to launch attacks. Before the semi-finals, Croatia had only conceded 3 goals, while Morocco had only conceded 1 goal from an own goal by defender Nayef Aguerd.

Defender Achraf Hakimi (left) disputes with Luka Modric in the 0-0 draw between Morocco and Croatia in Group F of the 2022 World Cup. Photo:Reuters

The midfield is expected to continue to be a hot spot in the upcoming match with both teams having quality midfield personnel. However, Croatia will likely be without Marcelo Brozovic after the Inter midfielder was injured in the semi-final against Argentina. Kristijan Jakic could be the option that coach Zlatko Dalic will use as a replacement.

Apart from Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic was one of the few players who played consistently in the match against Argentina. The Chelsea midfielder was always present at hot spots on the pitch to compete, and was ready to spark Croatia's attacks with his signature ball-carrying ability. In the semi-finals, Kovacic successfully completed 4 out of 6 dribbles and participated in 15 situations of gaining possession, including 10 winning duels. In the match against Morocco, the 28-year-old will have the opportunity to face Azzedine Ounahi, an interesting discovery at the 2022 World Cup and a mainstay in the midfield of the "Atlas Lions" alongside Sofyan Amrabat. The midfielder currently playing for Angers also possesses the ability to dribble skillfully and has a 77% success rate.

The defense is becoming a worrying position for coach Walid Regragui as the African representative is missing many key players due to injury. Although the central defender duo Roman Saiss and Nayef Aguerd and left-back Noussair Mazraoui had various problems before the match against France, the 47-year-old coach still took the risk of using them. As a result, captain Saiss and Mazraoui were both replaced early, while Aguerd was withdrawn from the starting lineup in the final minutes due to not being able to play.

Despite still aiming for third place, Regragui was realistic, saying that Morocco could be satisfied with the result at the 2022 World Cup when they became the first African team in history to reach the semi-finals. "We wanted to reach the final match, however, small mistakes prevented the team from doing that," the 47-year-old coach said. "The players did what they could, but we cannot rely on miracles to win the championship. We need to train harder to realize the dream next time."

With many key players absent due to injury, Regragui also said he would use players who have not had many opportunities to play at the World Cup in the match against Croatia.

On the European side, in addition to Brozovic, coach Dalic is likely to be without young talent Josko Gvardiol due to a foot injury. After 6 matches at the 2022 World Cup, Croatia has received 75 shots from opponents - more than any other team in the tournament. The fact that Dalic's team only conceded 3 goals before the match against France is largely due to Gvardiol.

In the last 10 Bronze Medal matches, European representatives have won. In their first World Cup appearance in 1998, Croatia finished third after beating the Netherlands 2-1. Therefore, according toPerformance Stats, the winning rate of the 2018 World Cup runner-up before the match against Morocco is slightly higher at 43.1%, while for the "Atlas Lions" it is 30.9%. The possibility of the two teams entering extra time is 26%, however, the above situation is unlikely when only one of the 19 recent third-place matches had to determine the winner after 90 minutes.

If the "Atlas Lions" do not let Croatia score in the upcoming match, the African representative will become the 8th team in history to keep a clean sheet in 5 matches at a World Cup.

At his pre-match press conference, coach Dalic expressed his respect for Morocco's performance throughout the tournament. "Morocco has a cohesive style of play and was the biggest surprise of the World Cup when they beat Belgium, Spain and Portugal in turn," he said. "Croatia is not taking the third-place match lightly and will field their fittest players against Morocco."

Expected starting lineup

Croatia: Livakovic, Juranovic, Sutalo, Lovren, Sosa, Modric, Kovacic, Jakic, Vlasic, Petkovic, Perisic.

Morocco: Bono, Hakimi, Dari, El-Yamiq, Attiyat-Allah, Ounahi, Amrabat, Amallah, Ziyech, En-Nesyri, Boufal.