Croatia defeats Morocco in World Cup third-place match

Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Croatia defeated Morocco 2-1 Saturday in the third-place game at the 2022 World Cup at Khalifa International Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar.

Seven minutes in, Croatian defender Josko Gvardiol headed in a goal to give Croatia an early lead.

Morocco evened the score shortly afterwards when defender Achraf Dari scored a header for his first international goal.

However, Croatian winger Mislav Orsic netted a curling shot in the 42nd minute which proved to be the game winner. There were no goals scored in the second half.

Morocco had a golden opportunity to tie it up when forward Youssef En-Nesyri had a close-range shot in the 75th minute, but Croatian goalie Dominik Livakovic rejected the shot.

For Croatia, it was their second straight deep run in the World Cup. Four years ago in Russia they finished runners-up and were hoping to get back to the final match. However, their run ended on Tuesday when they suffered a 3-0 defeat to Argentina in the semifinals.

Despite the loss, Morocco had the most successful World Cup for an African nation in history. The country became the first African team to reach the semifinals, where they ended up losing to France.