Walid Regragui had called it the booby prize, but it was reward enough for Croatia’s great overachievers. Silver medallists in 2018, they now pocket the bronze for coming third to mean the greatest World Cup campaign by an African side culminates in a fourth-place finish for Morocco.
If neither scenario felt likely when these teams shared a stalemate to kick off their campaigns in forgettable fashion, a relatively low-pressure match had a liberating effect and afforded rather more entertainment. Perhaps Croatia were stung by the criticisms that, penalty shootouts apart, they had only defeated Canada but they scored two brilliant goals. Josko Gvardiol got the first and perhaps the finest centre-back of the World Cup showed that his tournament should be remembered for much more than being embarrassed by Lionel Messi. The decider came from the outstanding Mislav Orsic; granted only 26 minutes before this – which was still enough time for him to get an assist against Brazil – he suggested he had been underused.
