Most of Africa and the Arab world dreamed of a historic World Cup medal. That was not the case.
Croatia won 2–1, and for the second World Cup in a row, can celebrate a medal.
The bronze medal match at the 2018 FIFA World Cup got off to a flying start, as Croatia took the lead in the seventh minute after a free-kick variant that ended with Joško Gvardiol heading in 1-0.
Orsic scored 2–1
There, too, many believed and hoped for a real football party, but after that, it was considerably slower and less eventful.
But a couple of minutes before the half-time break came to the goal that turned out to be the match-decider. Mislav Orsic fired a shot from the left side of the penalty area, which in a perfect arc went over the Moroccan goalkeeper and into the post.
Africa without a WC medal
In the second half, which for a long time was rather repulsed, Morocco tried to push for an equaliser but never succeeded. Thus, Africa must continue to wait for a WC medal.
- Morocco has really done something quite exceptional. They were tight at the back and only conceded one goal before the match against France (semi-final). The surprise of surprises, says SVT Sports expert Glenn Strömberg.
Eight left from the silver squad
For Croatia, it was the third World Cup medal in six tournaments since its debut in 1998 – when, just like now, it was bronze.
- Eight of us from (the tournament in) Russia understand that feeling of winning a medal in the World Cup. We have a lot of players who haven’t experienced it and would love to because it’s something that will stay with you for the rest of your life, forward Andrej Kramaric said ahead of the bronze medal match.
Recent Comments