Match 9 of the FIFA World Cup 2022 saw the 2018 World Cup runner’s up Croatia take on a less experienced Moroccan team at the Al Bayt Stadium, with Croatia looking to continue with the success they achieved in the previous World Cup in Russia.
After a brilliant success in the previous season, Luka Modric’s team entered the field with their heads held high. The group wanted to start this campaign off successfully. We saw the quickest foul of the World Cup as the game got underway when Boufal pushed one of his opponents while attempting to escape with the ball. The next few minutes saw a few more fouls from both teams before Moroccan forward Ziyech attempted to score the game’s first goal in the 13th minute, but Yassine Bounou stopped the attempt. Croatia quickly gained momentum and control, and Perisic attempted but failed to score in the 17th minute.
As the seconds passed, the action continued to alternate between the two teams’ attacking strategies. Luka Modric plays the ball into the D as Croatia attempts to put early pressure on the opponents, but the linesman declares an offside. Morocco then had a free kick outside the D, which was successfully cleared. There was a lot of action toward the end of the first half, but when the referee blew the whistle to signal the conclusion of the first, the score remained 0-0.
Similar to how the opposition had approached Croatia’s defence in the first half, Morocco attacked it early in the second. Morocco’s Sofiane Boufal attempted to score for Croatia ten minutes into the second half, but Dominik Livakovic stopped him. Noussair Mazraoui then made another rapid attempt, this time trying to beat Livakovic with a diving header, but he was once more stopped. When Croatia sent an aerial pass from the right, it was cleared, and the attack soon switched to the other side. Another quick Croatian attempt to score is blocked by Bounou, and the Moroccan defence clears the ball.
Both teams fought hard to locate the ideal scoring opportunity over the additional 7 minutes of play, but neither team was successful, and the referee blew the final whistle to end the game with the score at 0-0 for a draw.
The result of the game was quite a surprise considering the spectacular performance Croatia delivered in the last world cup, they were certainly the stronger side heading into this match. However, Morocco did a great job to restrict Luka’s men from taking away an anticipated victory. Croatia did not play bad at all, they were certainly good on the field. Morocco was just way to better than anyone would’ve expected.
From the group stages to the final match, stay up to date with the FIFA World Cup 2022 by following H3bet. Stay tuned as we continue to provide you with all the information you require regarding each game in this tournament..