Croatia may not have made it to the World Cup Finals but they managed to win the third-place Playoff. It was thanks to Mislav Orsic’s brilliant bending strike that secured their victory.
The team had a strong start with a superb header from Josko Gvardiol in the seventh minute. Morocco was quick to respond though, as two minutes later, Hakim Ziyech’s free-kick looped up off the head of Majer, allowing Dari to head past Dominik Livakovic and score the equalizer.
Just before half time, Orsic curled in brilliantly via the post from the corner of the box to put Croatia back on top. While Morocco had plenty of chances, they could not score another equaliser and Croatia secured their victory with a score of 2-1.
This win marks the 11th World Cup in a row that a European team has finished third. This is also the second-straight World Cup where Croatia has finished within the top three, the last time having been in 2018. While Morocco was unable to win third place, they are still the first African and Arab team to advance to the World Cup semi-finals.
