03:53 PM
Gvardiol’s goal
03:52 PM
Who has impressed and who should be taken off? Rate the players here
03:51 PM
Half time: Croatia 2 Morocco 1
A great first 45 minutes, really enjoyable stuff.
Gvardiol, the man in the mask, put Croatia ahead with a diving header from a mesmerising set-piece, but Dari hit back less that two minutes later, himself with a header from a Morocco free kick.
Croatia were on top that half and capitalised with a brilliant curling finish from Orsic a few minutes before the whistle, exploiting Morocco’s inability to properly clear their lines.
03:47 PM
45+2 mins: Croatia 2 Morocco 1
A deflected shot from Livaja, but Bono leaps and catches it.
Dari’s gone down injured there.
03:46 PM
45 mins: Croatia 2 Morocco 1
Two added minutes at the end of this half. Can Morocco again hit back quickly?
03:44 PM
GOAL! Croatia 2 Morocco 1 (Orsic, 42)
Orsic with a lovely goal, in off the post. Croatia lead again!
Morocco fail to clear their lines and Orsic is played in on the left-side of the box. He opens his body up and curls the ball over and around Bono with his right foot, whacking the far post and going in off it.
03:37 PM
36 mins: Croatia 1 Morocco 1
Ziyech with a corner kick. It’s a flashing header on the front post from En-Nesyri, but there’s no-one there on the back post to steer it in.
03:36 PM
34 mins: Croatia 1 Morocco 1
Morocco free kick, left of centre, 30 yards out.
In from Ziyech, decent ball in, but Perisic used the flight of the ball and pace of the cross to angle it away from danger.
03:34 PM
32 mins: Croatia 1 Morocco 1
Boufal gets it back from El Khannouss, a one-two between the two Moroccan men, which allows Boufal to let rip inside the Croatian box. But he’s gone too big though and hoofs it over the bar. They’re calling for a corner down there, but the replay shows the goal kick decision was spot on.
03:31 PM
Tom Morgan is at the Khalifa International Stadium
There had been much commotion among the Morocco crowd 15 minutes in, with 50 or so spectators turning to take photos and cheering towards the back of the stand near the media tribune.
It was initially difficult to work out what the fuss was about, but it has since emerged that one of the supporters had asked his partner to marry him.
03:30 PM
29 mins: Croatia 1 Morocco 1
Hakimi flashes one across goal from the right after some lovely interplay between him an Ziyech… but the final ball is behind the waiting En-Nesyri, wasting a great opportunity.
03:27 PM
26 mins: Croatia 1 Morocco 1
Majer with a more conventional ball in from the wide right, inswinging with his left foot from a 35-yard free kick.
Perisic gets on the end of it, but it’s way off target. Morocco goal kick.
03:25 PM
23 mins: Croatia 1 Morocco 1
Modric pulls the trigger from outside the box after a poor clearance from Morocco.
It’s a decent strike from his left foot and Bono spills it. He claws it away just before Livaja is able to get there.
Croatia are starting to get more of a handle on this match and look threatening.
03:22 PM
Scenes in Zagreb right now
03:21 PM
Bono almost put it into his own net earlier
03:20 PM
17 mins: Croatia 1 Morocco 1
Croatia catch Morocco on the break… it’s 2v2, but the offload is behind Kramaric, who has to cut inside but by that point it’s too late and Morocco close down the view on goal.
03:17 PM
Dari’s finish
03:16 PM
15 mins: Croatia 1 Morocco 1
Hakimi with a strong challenge on Livaja in his own box. Stood his ground well. Modric takes the corner but it’s easily cleared.
03:15 PM
14 mins: Croatia 1 Morocco 1
Stanisic has a dig from outside the area after Morocco twice fail to clear their lines with wayward passes. It flies over, but Morocco are evidently struggling to deal with the Croatian pressure.
03:14 PM
The man in the mask flew into this one
03:11 PM
GOAL! Croatia 1 Morocco 1 (Dari, 9)
A free kick from the right, Modric flicks it on, high, and Croatia don’t track Dari who flies in and heads past Livakovic. Sloppy from the Croatian defence there.
As we were. Croatia’s lead lasted barely two minutes!
There’s clearly more Morocco fans in the stadium – a roar erupts as the equaliser goes in.
03:08 PM
GOAL! Croatia 1 Morocco 0 (Gvardiol, 7)
Gvardiol heads Croatia in from after a brilliantly worked set piece!
It’s knocked straight forward from the free kick, Perisic heads across the box to an onrushing Gvardiol who dives at the ball and directs with power past Bono. What a finish.
03:06 PM
5 mins: Croatia 0 Morocco 0
Morocco trying to calm things down here, passing around the back.
They give it away though, and Amrabat fouls Kramaric for the first free kick, 35 yards out.
03:04 PM
2 mins: Croatia 0 Morocco 0
Almost an own goal there! Bono under pressure passes the ball across from the goal line, knocking it out for a corner – but he almost put that into his own net with the scuffed pass. A chaotic start from the Atlas Lions.
The corner’s sent in, it flashes behind Gvardiol and Morocco struggle to clear their lines.
03:00 PM
Kick off
Croatia get us under way – the 63rd game of the 2022 finals.
02:56 PM
The giant World Cup is on the pitch… even though it’s out of reach for both sides
02:54 PM
The players are heading out the tunnel
A reminder of the line-ups this afternoon
Croatia: Livakovic, Stanisic, Sutalo, Gvardiol, Orsic, Majer, Modric, Kovacic, Perisic, Livaja, Kramaric.
Subs: Barisic, Erlic, Lovren, Brozovic, Grbic, Vlasic, Pasalic, Petkovic, Budimir, Sosa, Vida, Juranovic, Ivusic, Sucic, Jakic.
Morocco: Bounou, Hakimi, Dari, El Yamiq, Attiyat Allah, El Khannous, Amrabat, Sabiri, Ziyech, En-Nesyri, Boufal.
Subs: Aguerd, Saiss, Ounahi, Hamdallah, Zaroury, Mohamedi, Chair, Aboukhlal, Amallah, Ezzalzouli, Cheddira, Tagnaouti, Benoun, Jabrane.
02:52 PM
Luka Modric
He’s made 161 appearances and got 23 goals for Croatia. He’s 37, but head coach Dalic is keen for him to play in Euro 2024 if he’s up for it.
02:46 PM
World Cup final predictions: Argentina vs France – who our experts think will win
Argentina and France have played each other three times in the World Cup, last meeting in Russia in 2018 when Didier Deschamps’s side won 4-3 in the Round of 16. Argentina won the first two meetings in 1930 and 1978. But who, according to our field of experts, will win the 2022 World Cup final when the two nations meet in Lusail Iconic Stadium in Doha?
02:43 PM
And outside
02:38 PM
BBC One if you want to watch along
The final will be on both BBC and ITV tomorrow.
02:33 PM
Warm ups
02:29 PM
Some Mexico fans have stuck around
02:19 PM
A Qatari referee team for today
Qatari referee Abdulrahman Al Jassim will take charge of this one, having also been in the middle for the Group B draw between Wales and the United States.
He will be joined by his Qatari assistants.
02:16 PM
Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic: ‘Morocco resembles us from four years ago, no-one expected them to go so far’
For us, this is a major final, a major match and a fight for a medal. We have a lot of respect for the Moroccan team, who achieved a lot at this tournament and are a true surprise.
They are of the same mindset, it is a huge match for them as well, they are coming with a strong line-up and we are not thinking about what the rivals is saying because we are well aware they are fighting for the same place and for both it is a huge match.
Morocco resembles us from four years ago, no-one expected them to go so far. They have deserved to be where they are, they have matured and developed and went to a higher level with every game. They have grown into a team that are full of energy and self-motivated.
They are definitely the most pleasant and biggest surprise from this World Cup, speaking of teams who could have done better – Spain, Germany, Netherlands, England – Italy did not even qualify. This is a specific World Cup where a third-place play-off is played by two nations who were not favourites.
02:10 PM
This is the site for Croatia’s 4-1 romp over Canada
Morocco haven’t played here yet.
02:05 PM
Score predictions for today?
02:03 PM
Opportunities for previously benched players today as Luka Modric makes his final World Cup appearance
Morocco will be without skipper Romain Saiss who lasted only 21 minutes in the semi-final defeat by France before he was substituted, with head coach Walid Regragui saying it was a risk worth taking at the time but not for the playoff.
“We won’t be taking risks… especially Saiss. He’s been ruled out. But I’m confident and trust in our group,” Regragui said yesterday.
In defence, Achraf Hakimi and Jawad El Yamiq retain their place, with Achraf Dari and Yahya Attiat-Allah coming in for the injured Saiss and Nayef Aguerd.
Croatia skipper Luka Modric starts in midfield alongside Mateo Kovacic, but Marcelo Brozovic sits out with Lovro Majer coming in. Marko Livaja and Mislav Orsic start in attack.
02:01 PM
Sofyan Amrabat starts today
He has been one of the stand-out performers of this World Cup where he has transferred his reputation for industry and taking responsibility at his club, Fiorentina, to that of his country.
Amrabat has been the ideal midfield anchor and it is little wonder that, once again, the 26-year-old is being monitored by Premier League clubs.
More on this from Jason Burt.
01:57 PM
Meanwhile, the France camp is in chaos with Raphael Varane and Ibrahima Konate the latest to be hit by virus
France are fighting a virus that has swept through their squad ahead of the World Cup final against Argentina.
Raphaël Varane and Ibrahima Konaté fell ill on Friday morning, both having started the semi-final against Morocco, and are struggling to be fully fit for Sunday’s game.
Manchester United’s Varane and Liverpool’s Konaté have been isolating in their rooms with France imposing social distancing measures at their team hotel to try and limit the impact of the virus.
Another defender, Dayot Upamecano, and midfielder Adrien Rabiot, went down with the illness suffering from flu-like symptoms, headaches and upset stomachs, and missed the semi-final. Kingsley Coman has also been sick.
01:53 PM
Karim Benzema on Instagram last night: ‘I’m not interested’
That quashes the rumour about him making a sensational return to the France squad for the final with Argentina tomorrow.
01:48 PM
The team news is in!
Croatia: Dominik Livakovic, Josip Stanisic, Ivan Perisic, Lovro Majer, Mateo Kovacic, Andrej Kramaric, Luka Modric, Marko Livaja, Mislav Orsic, Josko Gvardiol, Josip Sutalo
Morocco: Yassine Bounou, Achraf Hakimi, Abdelhamid Sabiri, Jawad El Yamiq, Sofyan Amrabat, Hakim Ziyech, Soufiane Boufal, Youssef En-Nesyri, Achraf Dari, Bilal El Khannouss, Yahya Attiat-Allah.
01:47 PM
Costumes have made their way up to the boxes for this one
01:44 PM
While Regragui: ‘the worst game to play’
We would like things to have gone differently and played in the final but there is another game to play, we would like to be on the podium.
We know that Croatia also want to finish in third place, we played them in our opening game so that will be nice.
It will be no walk in the park physically, they have had one more rest day.
We need to clear our heads a little but, when you come out of a semi-final, the first time we’ve ever been in one, emotions were running high and it was quite difficult. However, my players still have that appetite they want to finish well and they know they still have one game to play with all to play for.
Finishing third is not the same as finishing fourth and we want to take a medal home with us.
01:41 PM
Luka Modric’s last World Cup match
Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic believes the 37-year-old Real Madrid midfielder may continue playing until Euro 2024 in Germany, even though it will purely be the decision of Modric himself.
I hope that he will be with us [in Germany].
I’m looking forward to that and I think it is quite certain that he will be but Luka Modric will decide personally as well how he feels.
Knowing how he feels about football and the Croatia national team, I’m quite sure he will, but it is his decision only.
01:38 PM
Khalifa International Stadium the venue for this penultimate match in Qatar
11:00 AM
Surprise packages face each other for the second time this tournament
How much money would you have made if you had bet on the third-placed match being between Croatia and Morocco?
The two sides played out a 0-0 draw in their first match, and have gone on to have great runs, with both finishing above Belgium in the group stages. Croatia also knocked out favourites Brazil in the quarter-final with a dogged performance. Morocco made history by becoming the first African team to reach the semi-finals, beating big-hitters Spain and Portugal on their way.
Both sides were underdogs in their semi-finals and were ultimately beaten by better teams. Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez put in strong performances to beat Croatia 3-0. Argentina’s talisman Messi gave Croatia’s centre-backs the runaround for the third goal with a wonderful run.
Morocco gave it a good go against France but ultimately came up short, with the current champions winning 2-0 through goals from Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani. If Antoine Griezmann hadn’t been on such good form, intercepting several dangerous balls from Morocco, the outcome may have been different.
While both sides would have loved to reach the final, there is still a medal up for grabs today. Croatia finished third in their debut World Cup in 1998 and were runners-up 20 years later. As this is likely to be Luka Modric’s last World Cup appearance, he will be hoping to finish on a high. Manager Zlatko Dalić has said that there is a possibility that Modric will play at Euro 2024, if Croatia qualify.
Morocco had never made it past the Round of 16 at the World Cup before this year’s tournament, so have already achieved their highest ever finish, but they will be hoping to add a medal to the great memories they have created.
Morocco captain Romain Saiss will miss the match after picking up an injury in the quarter-final. He tried to play against France but was subbed off early on. Noussair Mazraoui, also substituted in that game, is a doubt.
Croatia have several injury concerns with Josko Gvardiol, Marcelo Brozovic and Josip Juranovic doubtful.
Source link: https://sports.yahoo.com/live-score-world-cup-2022-133058723.html?src=rss
