FIFA World Cup: Morocco vs Croatia, Preview and prediction

In the semifinal match, Argentina defeated Zlatko Dalic's group by a score of 3-0, while the Atlas Lions gave it they're all against France but fell short by 2-0.

In the semifinal matchup against Croatia, Messi opened the scoring for Argentina from the penalty spot before Julian Alvarez's solo run netted La Albiceleste's second goal—albeit with a bit of luck after a few ricochets.

Dalic's team made the 2018 World Cup final and the 2022 semi-finals without winning a knockout game in regular time. They are no strangers to bronze medal contests, having defeated the Netherlands 2-1 in the 1998 third-place playoff during their debut World Cup campaign.

The fact that the third-place playoff has never been decided on spot kicks will not please Croatia, a team that has consistently shown its mettle in extra time and penalty shootouts, and the unrestrained Moroccan audience will not know on whom to bash their drums to the top for one last ride.

Morocco, the first African nation to get to a World Cup quarterfinal, may have been the first team from the continent to win the tournament if it weren't for lack of killer instinct in the final third.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">One more good performance for Sofyan Amrabat with Morocco, after great first part of the season with Fiorentina — as there are many clubs tracking him for summer 2023. 🇲🇦 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Qatar2022?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Qatar2022</a><br><br>He was one step away from joining Tottenham last year, Conte wanted Amrabat but deal collapsed. <a href="https://t.co/6MnMbcII8A">pic.twitter.com/6MnMbcII8A</a></p>&mdash; Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) <a href="https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1595734165450002433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Croatia and Morocco reprise hostilities just a few weeks after their goalless draw in Group F, which saw the Checkered Ones were limited to only five attempts versus Regragui's backline, and a similarly dogged defensive performance might propel the Africans to a historic World Cup victory.

Regragui is unlikely to risk either trio member for Saturday's game. Thus a return to a 4-3-3 formation may be in order as Yahia Attiyat Allah and Selim Amallah try to force their way back into the starting lineup.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🇭🇷 One last push. Best of luck today, <a href="https://twitter.com/HNS_CFF?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HNS_CFF</a>. <a href="https://t.co/F01NuDs9iI">pic.twitter.com/F01NuDs9iI</a></p>&mdash; UEFA (@UEFA) <a href="https://twitter.com/UEFA/status/1604064514709889024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Possible lineup

Croatia: Livakovic, Juranovic, Lovren, Sutalo, Sosa, Modric, Jakic, Kovacic, Vlasic, Kramaric, Perisic.

Morocco: Bono, Hakimi, El-Yamiq, Dari, Attiyat-Allah, Ounahi, Amrabat, Amallah, Ziyech, En-Nesyri, Boufal.

Morocco is expected to win the third place