The third placed team will be confirmed at the FIFA World Cup on Saturday afternoon when Croatia and Morocco meet for the second time in the Qatar tournament in the match neither nation really wanted to be competing in.
Although both would have had their sights set on the final after making it into the semi-final, finishing third would still be a decent achievement for whoever manages to finish there. Hopefully this match is better than the 0-0 draw their played out to begin their campaigns.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the BBC 1 channel in the UK with the build-up to the contest beginning at 2.30pm and kick off coming along at 3pm.
Croatia
Croatia have had some notable moments in this tournament and will want to finish it off in a positive light but the fact remains that they have only won one of the six matches they have played inside the 90 minutes. That came against a Canada side who wound them up and got their juices flowing. That can happen in this tournament but you would think win or lose here the 2018 finalists will be keen to get this over with inside 90 minutes given nobody really wants to play this match and domestic top level football resumes next week.
Goals have been a problem for Croatia in the tournament. If you take away the four they scored against Canada they have only found the net twice in five outings and needed 116 minutes against Brazil for one of those. Defensively they have looked solid enough but even then their goalkeeper has had to bail them out on a few occasions. Where there is no disputing the quality of this Croatia side is in the middle of the park where they have some top class operators.
Morocco
When this tournament is looked back upon it might well be the story of Morocco which is remembered the most. They have offered so much to the tournament and on another night could easily be preparing for the final here had a key decision gone their way in their semi-final. It didn’t and now the first African side ever to make the last four will have to settle for third place at best, which would still be a brilliant achievement should it happen.
Morocco have been excellent at this tournament but they have only won two of their six matches inside the 90 minutes but the key thing for them is that only France have scored anything other than an own goal against them thus far. The big problem Morocco have here is the injuries are piling up, especially defensively, and you wonder if they will catch up with them here. The other issue is they play this match just 66 hours after the final whistle in the semi-final.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account and bet £10 to get up to £20 in free bets! Perfect offer for this tournament! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Team News
Morocco have confirmed that their captain Romain Saiss will miss this match after leaving the semi-final after 20 minutes. They have confirmed they will be taking risks on some injured players with the aim of finishing third here.
Croatia have doubts over midfielder Marcelo Brozovic who was substituted in the semi-final loss to Argentina and over star defender Josko Gvardiol who has been playing with a foot injury. Luka Modric is expected to make his final World Cup appearance.
Betting
These third placed matches are never the easiest to bet on because you never truly know about motivation of the two sides involved but I can’t not back Croatia to get the job done in 90 minutes here just on the schedule of the competition. Morocco have put everything into this tournament and it has come at a cost in terms of a few defensive bodies and they have to go again less than three days after the blow of losing a semi-final which they gave all they had in.
Croatia have the extra 24 hours to recover for this match and if we are being brutally honest they didn’t really give everything they had in their semi-final because it was over almost as quickly as it started. That should help the European side here. The other thing which will help is their squad depth is a lot better so if they want to make changes then they won’t be weakening their XI quite as much. I don’t think anyone will want extra time here so I’ll chance Croatia inside 90 minutes.
Tips
Back Croatia to beat Morocco for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with William Hill
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2022
