Predictions: Who Will Win Morocco vs Croatia Third-Place Playoff?

Rabat – After their elimination in the Qatar World Cup semi-finals, Morocco’s national football team and Croatia are set to lock horns tomorrow for a chance at claiming third-place.

Even though the two teams lost their chance at advancing to the finals, Morocco and Croatia still seem determined to put on a final show and clinch the bronze medal.

“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,” Euro News quoted Croatia’s forward Andrej Kramaric as saying.

Morocco’s head coach Walid Regragui stressed his squad’s commitment to wrapping up their fairytale journey in the tournament with a memorable third-place finish. “This is not the end,” said Regragui today during Morocco’s pre-match conference in Qatar.

Morocco and Croatia faced off in the tournament’s group stage on November 23. The match, which was both teams’ opening World Cup game, ended with a goalless draw, marking the beginning of the Atlas Lions’ glory on the big stage.

The Moroccan national team defied all odds and caused a sensational upset as they managed to beat and send home pre-match favorites, including Belgium, Spain, and Portugal. However, their World Cup run came to an end after France defeated them 2-0 on Wednesday.

Since the kickoff of the tournament, predictions and statistics were not in favor of Morocco, and even suggested that the team would not make it past the group phase. Nevertheless, the North African team made history, becoming the first Arab and African country to reach the World Cup semi-finals.

Predictions

Similarly, predictions are slightly in favor of the 2018 World Cup runners-up Croatia to claim a win, though the Moroccan squad have already proved themselves when they topped Group F with a total of seven points, ahead of Croatia.

The European team has a long-standing legacy at the World Cup, as they have qualified for all but one of the global tournaments since their independence, and have reached the top four three times (1998, 2018, 2022).

Meanwhile, Morocco has appeared at the World Cup a total of six times, with the 2022 World Cup marking the first time that they advanced to the knockout stage.

Data from Opta Analyst showed that the European team are favorites to win with a 43.1% chance, while the Atlas Lions have a 30.9% likelihood of claiming a victory.

Sports news outlet 90min predicted that the game would end with Croatia beating Morocco 1-0, whereas SportsMole predicted that Morocco would secure a 1-0 win.

Meanwhile, Sofascore’s predictions showed that Morocco and Croatia have roughly the same chance of winning the game. Out of the voters, 43.29% guessed Croatia would win Saturday’s match, while 42.7% voted in favor of Morocco. The remaining 14.01% predicted that the match would end in a draw.