A bronze medal will be up for grabs at the Khalifa International Stadium in the penultimate 2022 FIFA World Cup third place clash when Morocco and Croatia face off Saturday, December 17. The Atlas Lions put up a spirited performance in the semifinals and dominated possession but lost 2-0 to defending Champions France whereas Croatia were also thrashed 3-0 by a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina outfit. The pair will be meeting for the second time this campaign, having played out a goalless draw during the group stages. Morocco suffered three injury setbacks in their game with France with skipper Romain Saiss, lateral defender Noussair Mazraoui and centre back Nayef Aguerd all sidelined ahead of the clash. Manager Walid Regragui emphasized in the pre-match press conference ahead of the third place game with Croatia that he won't risk any player who is not 100 percent fit and the trio are likely to miss the match if they fail a late fitness test. Meanwhile, Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic has his full squad with the exception of Marcelo Brozovic who could miss the game after sustaining an injury against Argentina. Dalic will be hoping that his side lifts up their game after their abysmal performance against Argentina where only the midfield remained vibrant. Morocco has conceded just three goals in six games with one of them being an own goal. Their defense has been superb and the best so far in the tournament. Morocco will rely on Youssef En-Nesyri, Sofiane Boufal, and Hakim Ziyech in attack to go all out for victory with Azzedine Ounahi and Sofyan Amrabat doing the job in midfield. Dalic could, on the other side, make tactical changes in attack, by introducing Bruno Petkovic who scored the equalizer against Brazil in the quarter finals. The Dinamo Zagreb, who did not start against Argentina, could be paired with Andrej Kramaric in a two-man attack to hunt goals for as the Croats It is worthy to note that, no third place game in the history of the World Cup had gone beyond normal time.
