Croatia secured a third-place finish at the 2022 FIFA World Cup with a 2-1 victory over Morocco on Saturday evening.
Bilal El Khannouss became the youngest ever player to feature at the tournament in the knockout stages as he featured for Morocco, with Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic present again for the Croats.
It was a commanding start for the Vatreni on five minutes as a well-constructed short free-kick to the area saw a flicked header by Perisic fall to a diving Josko Gvardiol and he headed in.
Croatia pulled level four minutes later when Achraf Dari charged on a loose ball from a snap free-kick to the area by Hakim Ziyech and slotted beyond Dominik Livakovic.
Modric had a golden chance to restore the lead midway in the first half with a low shot outside the area after cutting an angle from a clever position, but Yassine Bounou parried away.
Although after a spell of pressure from Morocco, the Vatreni regained momentum when Mislav Orsic pulled wide two minutes to halftime and curled in off the far post following a clear pass.
There was movement on the bench of the Atlas Lions ahead of the second half, as Abdelhamid Sabiri made way off the field and Ilias Chair dropped in.
Croatia looked to continue their dominant spell from the first period and Orsic closed-in to a brace off a half-chance from cautious play, but didn't manage to find target.
The Atlas Lions regained momentum thereafter and very nearly levelled through Youssef En-Nesyri from a loose ball in the area, but Livakovic made himself big and smothered.
A late chance was presented to the Croats with Mateo Kovavcic on the end off a scramble in the box, while En-Nesyri headed over from six-yards out a few moments later as the European nation held on for the win.
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