The chances of the winning the World Cup might have gone for Croatia and Morocco, but “immortality” is at stake when the two teams meet in Saturday’s third-place playoff.
Croatia forward Andrej Kramarić dispelled the notion it would be a meaningless contest at Khalifa International Stadium.
“I think if you ask this question to Moroccan players, I don’t think they will look that way,” he said at a news conference Thursday. “They’re fighting for their lives because if you win a medal at a World Cup you become an immortal hero in your country. That’s the same thing we are going to do.”
Morocco defied the odds to become the first African team to reach the World Cup semifinals. But the Atlas Lions’ run came to an end with a 2-0 loss to defending champions France on Wednesday.
Croatia reached the final in Russia in 2018 but suffered a 3-0 loss to Argentina on Tuesday.
Eight of us from (the tournament in) Russia understand that feeling of winning a medal at the World Cup and we have a lot of players who haven’t experienced that and would love to do that because it’s something that will stay with you for the rest of their life,” Kramaric said.
Morocco created history at the 2022 FIFA World Cup by becoming the first-ever African nation to qualify for the semi-final stages of the tournament. But their fairytale run was brought to a halt by Kylian Mbappe and company at the Al Bayt Stadium.
Having come into the semi-final after not conceding a goal from an opposition player, goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was beaten twice as France ran away as a 2-0 winner. AC Milan full-back Theo Hernandez opened the scoring in the fifth minute through an acrobatic finish before substitute Randal Kolo Muani doubled France’s lead with his very-first touch in the 79th minute.
As for Croatia, they were outclassed by Lionel Messi’s Argentina 3-0 at the Lusail Stadium. The Croatians were aiming to register a spot in back-to-back finals at the World Cup but couldn’t overcome tournament favourites Argentina in the semi-finals.
Messi and Julian Alvarez were the stars of the day for the Albiceleste in their win over Croatia. Messi opened the scoring through an unstoppable penalty kick in the 34th minute before Alvarez doubled Argentina’s lead just minutes later. The Manchester City striker put the game to bed after tapping in an exquisite Messi assist.
