As Croatia defeated Morocco 2-1 in the World Cup's third-place game on Saturday, Luka Modric concluded his World Cup career with the consolation gift of a bronze medal for Qatar 2022.
Following the disappointment of losing to Argentina in the semi-finals, goals of great marvel from Josko Gvardiol and Mislav Orsic allowed the runners-up from four years ago in Russia to finish this campaign on a high.
Croatia hopes that their 37-year-old skipper Modric will decide to continue playing and participate in their Euro 2024 campaign, but this was the midfielder for Real Madrid's final World Cup game.At Khalifa International Stadium, Gvardiol gave Croatia the lead in the seventh minute. Although Achraf Dari quickly evened the score for Morocco, Orsic's spectacular goal just before halftime was the game-winner.
Ivan Perisic skillfully nodded Lovro Majer's free kick into the penalty area toward the spot where Gvardiol scored with a powerful header into the left corner. However, Morocco equalized in just 112 seconds after Hakim Ziyech's free kick from the right flank was sent looping up by a heavy touch off Croatia's Majer. Dari applied a close-range finish with his head.
Early on, Yassine Bounou came dangerously close to slicing a pass into his own goal, but the Moroccan goalkeeper was alert enough to stop a low shot from Modric. But in the 42nd minute, Orsic beat him with a beautiful finish from just inside the left edge of the penalty area, arcing the ball over the goalkeeper.
Early in the second half, as Croatia sought to score a third goal against the nation that advanced to the World Cup semifinals for the first time in Africa, a deflected Orsic shot from 20 yards rippled the sidenetting.
Later, Gvardiol requested a penalty after being knocked to the ground by Sofyan Amrabat. Before Morocco had their big opportunity, Dominik Livakovic denied Youssef En-Nesyri from close range. He also had another last-ditch opportunity for Morocco, but he just missed the bar with a header. They had to settle for fourth, which was still a remarkable accomplishment.
IDENTICAL NARRATIVE, BUT ALSO THE END OF AN ERA
Croatia continued Europe's supremacy in this match; European teams have now won 11 straight third-place games at the World Cup; the last time a team from another continent won the award was Brazil's 2-1 victory over Italy in 1978.
The 19th and last World Cup game of Modric's illustrious career occurred in this one. He made history by becoming the first outfield player who is 37 years of age or older to play in more than six World Cup games in Qatar.
GVARDIOL LEAVES MESSI'S NIGHTMARE IN THE PAST.
After being humiliated by Messi in the semifinals, Gvardiol made sure to end his season on a positive note. At 20 years and 328 days old, he scored the World Cup goal that made him the youngest scorer for Croatia.
Only Messi (16) had been involved in more goals at the World Cup over that time frame before Perisic's assist, which brought his total to 11.
HAKIMI CONTINUES TO ROAR FOR THE ATLAS LIONS
Similar to Modric, Achraf Hakimi did not perform in a way that stole the show this time, but the Paris Saint-Germain right-back still made a significant contribution for Morocco.
His 27 tackles in the tournament are the most by a player in a single World Cup since Javier Mascherano made 30 for Argentina in the 2014 tournament. He made a team-high four tackles.
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