The World Cup’s third-place match is often a meaningless affair between two strong, disappointed sides. Brazil was beaten on its own turf in this game in 2014 after the historic 7–1 embarrassment at the hands of Germany in the semifinal. England produced a mostly listless performance against Belgium in 2018 following an upset loss to Croatia.
Saturday’s match featured no such opponents, and it was no such match. Croatia beat surprise semifinalist Morocco 2–1 in a 90-minute battle that felt more like Sunday’s final than a futile friendly. It was the final showing between two nations that had no business reaching that point but absolutely deserved to be there.
Croatia, which had overcome deficits to beat Canada, Japan and Brazil before finally succumbing to Argentina, needed no such comeback this time. Breakout star defender Joško Gvardiol opened scoring in the seventh minute with a headed effort past Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou. It was the first time the Vatreni had led in a match since their 4–1 win over Canada in the group stage.
