Croatia edge past Morocco for World Cup third place | Qatar World Cup 2022

Croatia have eased past Morocco 2-1 to claim third place in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

A sublime header in the sixth minute from Joško Gvardiol 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 the 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 started to dominate possession, with Morocco happy to sit deep and contain.

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.

Both teams leave Qatar with their heads held high, their pride intact.

More to follow