On Saturday, December 17, the penultimate match of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be played. As befits a tournament of this caliber, the penultimate game is for the bronze medals. Here, the last set of awards will be contested by teams that were clearly not among the favorites. So, on December 17 at 18:00 Moscow time, Croatia takes on Morocco.
Pre-match breakdown
The Croatian national team is one of the most boring sides in the tournament. Undoubtedly, a defensive style has its merits, but along with defense, they need to think about powerful positional attacks from time to time, and most importantly, deadly counterattacks. Unfortunately, Croatia has catastrophic issues with the latter, even though they try to attack positionally occasionally. But the title of the dullest team at the World Cup wasn’t given by accident: the side drew too many goalless stalemates and generally didn’t deliver exciting football. Fine, if you’re not showing flair, that’s one thing, but they also disrupted others. Yes, sometimes successfully, but still. Regardless, the team reached the semifinals, where they crashed out, losing to Argentina 0:3.
As for Morocco, the team also plays attacking football. So why aren’t they hated as much as the Croats? There are many reasons. First, the Moroccans are extremely fast and quite skillful players who can launch insane counterattacks. Second, their match against France was a prime example that when they need to come back, the team can effectively besiege the goal. And those were French goals, by the way. Finally, no one managed to score against them until the semifinals, which deserves huge respect. Yes, there was one goal conceded, but that was an own goal. Oh, and almost forgot, Morocco is the first African team to reach the World Cup semifinals. That’s a record, and you don’t hate record-breakers. Essentially, this defensive-counterattacking style took them to the semifinals, where they lost to France 0:2 but left a very positive impression.
It’s worth noting that the teams have already faced each other in this tournament. It happened in the first group stage match. The game was fairly even, but true to form for Croatia, it ended 0:0.
Croatia
Grinding their teeth, there’s no other way to put it… The first match was a rather dull goalless draw with Morocco. Questions already arose about the ‘chess players’ advancing to the knockout stage, especially with Belgium ahead, but that was for the final group game. In the second match, a fairly expected and quite lively win over Canada 4:1, which is pretty much the only bright spot for the Croatian side. Ultimately, their progression to the knockout stage was decided in the third game against Belgium. Another dull affair, and another 0:0, but this time it was enough.
Their first knockout opponent was Japan. The first half saw the same zeros for Croatia, while Japan scored before halftime. Early in the second half, Perisic equalized, and that was it—straight to penalties, where luck smiled on the ‘checkered ones’ again.
In the quarterfinal against Brazil, whom everyone was ready to hand the trophy to, Croatia held firm again. The 90 minutes ended without a single goal… again… The script mirrored the Japan game, but this time Croatia conceded just before the break in extra time, only to quickly level the score. Once more, penalties, and another win.
Against Argentina, they had no energy left to hold off the opponents. The team quickly fell apart after conceding a few goals, and their attempts to fight back were honestly pretty feeble and toothless. The result? A well-deserved 0:3 loss. And honestly, there’s no certainty they’ll muster the moral, psychological, and physical strength to battle for bronze.
Odds for Croatia to beat Argentina are at 2.35.
As a football fan, I’d have sent Croatia home long ago, but I ended up watching them more than anyone else, alongside France, Argentina, and Morocco. Yes, they deliver boring matches, but the results make you admire this squad, which is fairly average on paper. The question is, what’s next? They’ve upset several teams as underdogs, but how will they fare against an evenly matched opponent?
Morocco
Morocco is undoubtedly the biggest surprise of the World Cup. Let’s be real—who expected this team to reach the semifinals? Heck, many probably doubted they’d even make it out of the group with Croatia and Belgium in it? And those two were semifinalsists from the last World Cup in Russia…
So, the Moroccans’ tournament journey started with a match against Croatia. We saw the usual zeros from Croatia and picked up the first point. Next up, Belgium, and a surprisingly solid 2:0 win. For dessert, they devoured Canada (2:1) and topped their group. Topped it… From a group with two semifinalists from the previous World Cup…
People started talking about the team, but ahead was Spain in the round of 16. Yes, Spain hadn’t been firing on all cylinders in the group stage, but everyone remembered their thrashing of Costa Rica (7:0), and there were fears they’d dominate against second-tier sides. But Morocco stood tall, played 120 minutes to a 0:0 draw, and won on penalties. Interestingly, Spain only managed one shot on target in those 120 minutes.
By the quarterfinals, Morocco was being taken seriously, but they were still seen as underdogs against Portugal. Ronaldo started on the bench and watched as Morocco opened the scoring. Yes, the football legend came on in the second half, but he only managed a shot into the near corner and a not-so-confident free kick. In the end, Morocco comfortably saw out the win. At least, that’s how it appeared.
In the semifinal against France, they had to dig deep. The players scrapped for every ball on the pitch, sometimes taking out the opponent’s legs with it. No one was untouchable, from Giroud to Mbappé. But unfortunately, an early goal disrupted Morocco’s usual setup. By the way, they’d never had to come from behind before. Despite a desperate and, you could say, heroic performance, Morocco lost 0:2, but far from spinelessly like the Croats did.
Odds for Morocco to win are at 3.20.
The team’s style is clear: solid defense and quick breaks on the counter. Nothing revolutionary, but how they do it… Incredibly fast, with pinpoint passes, every player running exactly where they need to. It’s masterful. And what’s even more impressive—think about it—they only conceded one goal before the semifinals, despite facing Croatia, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal… The only goal against Morocco was scored by Canada, and even that was an own goal. I bet Canadian players would love to see Morocco finish the tournament without conceding, so they could proudly say: ‘Only we scored against the World Cup champs.’ But it didn’t happen; France spoiled the party for Canada.
Prediction for the match
So, we have two teams that prefer to play defensively. How will they approach this? Croatia will likely dominate possession, as they did in the group stage. But in terms of chances, it might be even. If we’re talking about the winner, Croatia seems demoralized, while Morocco can take pride in reaching the third-place match. They’ll fight until the final whistle, just like they did against France. There’s no guarantee Croatia can handle that intensity.
In a match like this, it’s smart to go for the path of least resistance and bet on under. What else would you pick in a game between defensive teams? But I want something more exciting.
I believe Croatia will run out of steam by the bronze match and won’t pull off a win. So, I’ll go with a Morocco win with a draw no bet. Yes, I admit it could go to extra time, but I just don’t see Croatia winning in regular time. Morocco, on the other hand, absolutely could.
Prediction: Morocco win with draw no bet at odds of 2.20.
