World Cup 2022: Reasons for Croatia to be confident of beating Morocco

The Checkered Ones were denied a second successive final appearance against France by a free-flowing Argentina, who came up trumps 3-0 in Tuesday's semi-final courtesy of Julian Alvarez's brace and a Lionel Messi penalty.

Zlatko Dalic's side now aim to win the consolation prize of a bronze medal against the first-ever African nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals, and the Croatia faithful can feel quietly optimistic about their side's chances of doing so.

Here, Sports Mole picks out three reasons for Croatia to be confident of beating Morocco and claiming a third-placed finish at the 2022 World Cup.

Record against African nations

Croatia and Morocco are renewing hostilities at the World Cup only a few weeks on from playing out a goalless stalemate in the group stage, and the Atlas Lions could have felt aggrieved not to have come away with all three points on the day.

However, that 0-0 draw continued an encouraging trend for Croatia in World Cup matches against African nations, as the 2018 runners-up remain unbeaten after taking on three separate teams from the continent at the globe's biggest tournament.

Furthermore, Croatia have navigated all three of those matches without conceding a single goal, recording an emphatic 4-0 win over Cameroon in the 2014 edition before seeing off Nigeria by two goals to nil four years later.

Croatia and Morocco will be meeting for just the second time in their nations' history following the inaugural showdown last month, but the European nation will need to improve on their paltry tally of five shots from that game if they are to ensure their unbeaten African streak continues.

European bronze medallists

Traditionally, European nations have excelled at picking themselves up from semi-final defeats and clinching the bronze medal at the World Cup, and Croatia will be desperate not to break a 44-year streak for their fellow continental counterparts at the Khalifa International Stadium.

Belgium's 2-0 win over England four years ago remarkably represented the 10th time in a row that the World Cup third-placed playoff was won by a European nation - the last country from elsewhere to triumph in this match were the Brazil team of 1978.

That run also includes success in Croatia's only previous appearance in the bronze medal match in 1998, where they beat the Netherlands 2-1 in what was their first-ever World Cup as an independent nation, and no African side has ever got this far.

Since the bronze medal was last won by a non-European country, Germany (2), Belgium, the Netherlands, Croatia, Sweden, Poland, Italy, Turkey and France have all secured podium finishes for UEFA, but the Checkered Ones' extra-time superiority may not count for much, as not since 1986 has this match not finished in normal time.

Morocco's defensive dilemma

A few eyebrows were raised when Morocco manager to recover all of Nayef Aguerd, Noussair Mazraoui and Romain Saiss - the latter of whom was taken off on a stretcher against Portugal - for the semi-finals, but it was a risk that backfired heavily on Walid Regragui.

The trio dropped out one by one, with Aguerd being forced out of contention just before the first whistle blew, Saiss coming off just after the 20-minute mark and Mazraoui only being able to complete 45 minutes before joining his stricken teammates on the sidelines.

Regragui's plan for a five-man backline quickly fell apart against France, and none of the injured trio should be risked for the bronze medal match if they are not completely healthy, which spells optimism for a Croatia attack that have flattered to deceive at the World Cup so far.

While Dalic's out-and-out number nines have left a lot to be desired, 37-year-old Luka Modric will fly home as one of the standout midfielders of the tournament, while Ivan Perisic is out for a personal accolade of his own, as he needs just one more World Cup goal to hit a record-breaking seven for his country and leave Davor Suker in his wake.

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