Goals by Gvardiol and Orsic gave 2-1 victory to Morocco, who had equalised with Dari at Khalifa International Stadium. Croatia have eased past Morocco 2-1 to claim third place in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. A sublime header from Joško Gvardiol in the seventh minute made the 20-year-old Croatia’s youngest ever goalscorer in the national shirt. Two minutes later, Achraf Dari equalised with a header of his own, and Saturday’s game looked like it might be a goalfest for the ages. But action at Doha’s Khalifa International Stadium settled after 10 frantic opening minutes into an entertaining, if less frenetic, match-up as both teams attempted to end their World Cup journey on a high. Croatia, the 2018 runners-up, started to dominate possession, with Morocco happy to sit deep and contain. Mislav Orsic’s winner The winner came in the 42nd minute when Mislav Orsic lobbed a curling ball over the Morocco keeper with power, clipping the inside of the far post to rebound into the opposite side netting. An absolute peach of a shot, and the 11th World Cup in a row a European team has finished third. The last time these two played ended in a cagey 0-0 draw in the group stage just three weeks ago. Now, with nothing left to lose, both teams put in a spirited performance for a game that was little like their nervy last encounter. Perisic assist In an action-packed opening period, Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou came dangerously close to passing the ball into his own net in the first few seconds of the game. Then Croatia surged in front from a well-rehearsed free-kick, as Ivan Perisic nodded Lovro Majer’s clip into the box back towards a diving Gvardiol, who planted his header into the corner. But Morocco hit back when Hakim Ziyech’s free-kick looped up off the head of Majer, allowing Dari to head past Dominik Livakovic in the Croatian goal. Bilal El Khannouss makes his debut Andrej Kramaric went on to head straight at Bounou, who did well to scoop the ball to safety as Marko Livaja closed in. Orsic again went close moments after the restart, his goalbound effort brushing Jawad El Yamiq and fizzing narrowly past the post. Croatia penalty appeal Croatia were furious when Gvardiol tumbled inside the area when his foot appeared to be caught by Sofyan Amrabat, but there was no VAR review. It could have proved a match-changing moment had Youssef En-Nesyri found a way past Livakovic, who spread himself superbly to block the striker from close range. Mateo Kovacic went wide with the chance to put the game beyond doubt. Morocco had a late penalty appeal turned down and En-Nesyri headed just over in the dying seconds, but the Atlas Lions could not find a way to end their historic run with a victory.
![Gvardiol’s sublime header gave Croatia the lead early on [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]](https://www.newtimes.co.rw/thenewtimes/uploads/images/2022/12/17/thumbs/1200x700/8426.jpg "Gvardiol’s sublime header gave Croatia the lead early on [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]")
