Croatia vs Morocco Prediction | World Cup 2022 ‣ Betiton™

The 2022 Qatar World Cup is reaching its end and before the big showpiece match on Sunday afternoon, there is the game that nobody wants to ever be part of – the third/fourth place play-off. While it is a remarkable achievement to get this far in such a competition, this game is just a reminder to both teams of what could have been. This Play-Off match will be between Croatia and Morocco at it will be played at the Khalifa International Stadium in Al Rayyan on the 17th December at 15:00 GMT. As always, if you are looking for some quality World Cup 2022 predictions for this match, then please read our Croatia vs Morocco prediction.

Croatia vs Morocco Preview

At the time of writing, the channel that this match would be shown live on had not yet been released, but it will be one of either BBC 1 or ITV 1. Just check the TV schedule on Friday at some stage, and you will be able to see the channel that it will be shown on. Tune into the game at least 30 minutes before the scheduled kick off so that you can enjoy the atmosphere and build up to the game.

Let us now have a look at how both Croatia and Morocco came to be in the third/fourth play-off of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Morocco:

• Round of 16: Morocco 0 – Spain 0 (after extra-time with Morocco winning 3-0 on penalties)
• Quarter-Finals: Morocco 1 – Portugal 0
• Semi-Finals: France 2 – Morocco 0

Croatia:

• Round of 16: Croatia 1 – Japan 1 (Croatia won 3-1 on penalties)
• Quarter-Finals: Croatia 0 – Brazil 0 (Croatia won 4-2 on penalties)
• Semi-Finals: Argentina 3 – Croatia 0

🏠 Croatia Form and Team News

Taking the time to look at how both teams have reached a certain stage in a big football event is something that you should get into the habit of doing if you are planning on doing a little bit of football betting. At the end of the day, when you are gambling on sports, ignoring the current form of a participant is a sure way to lose your hard-earned money. This is, then, what we’re going in our Croatia vs Morocco prediction.

The 2022 Qatar World Cup has come full circle for both these teams as they both played each other right at the start of the competition. That match was a pretty exciting game, despite the fact that the points were shared in the end after a 0-0 draw. In their second match of the competition against Canada, Croatia knew that a win would put them in good stead to make it through to the Round of 16, and they got off to the worst possible start when Alphonso Davis scored with just minutes on the clock. This early setback woke the Croatians up, and they went on to win the game 4-1, which was a result that eliminated Canada with a game to go. Croatia’s final group game was against Belgium, and they knew that a draw would be more than enough for them to qualify for the next round. They picked up a 0-0 draw thanks to some heroic last-ditched defending, setting up a Round of 16 game with Japan, while Belgium, the favourites to top the group, were sent packing.

For the knockout match against the Japanese, Croatia were slight favourites, but they were under no illusion as to how hard this game would be as Japan had accounted for both Germany and Spain in order to make it to the last 16. At this stage, seven of Croatia’s previous eight knockout games in international tournaments had to be resolved in extra-time or penalties, so it was not much of a surprise when the game finished 1-1 in normal time. In the 30 minutes of additional time, there was not a lot of goalmouth action, meaning the game went to penalties, and Japan set about taking some of the worst penalties that you will ever see. Croatia took their penalties with aplomb, won 3-1, and booked a spot in the last eight.

In the Quarter-Finals, Croatia had the unenviable task of taking on the Brazilians, and not many football betting punters and tipsters giving out football predictions would have put their hard-earned money on Croatia knocking out the favourites. However, the strong point of this Croatia team is their midfield, and their trio of L. Modrić, M. Brozović, and M. Kovačić completely dominated to ensure that Brazil never got the upperhand. Despite their midfield dominance, Croatia were poor in attack, and before long it looked like yet another Croatia knockout game that would need to be decided by another 30 minutes. Our feeling was right, and it was 0-0 after normal time, but Neymar managed to break the deadlock with a quality goal on 106 minutes. However, Petkovic equalised with a few minutes left, and the game had to be decided on penalties. Dominik Livakovic put in a stunning performance and helped his team win 4-2 on penalties.

Croatia entered the semi-final against Argentina as the underdog, but the Argentinians would not have been taking them lightly. Croatia started the game well and had most of the ball for the opening quarter, but they were not able to work Emi Martinez in the Argentina goal. On the 34th minute mark, Argentina sprang a counterattack, and Livakovic brought down Alvarez to give away a penalty, which Lionel Messi converted. Five minutes later, Alvarez made a dazzling run and, after a bit of luck, bundled the ball over the line to give his team a 2 goal lead. Croatia tried to get back into the game, but it was put to bed in the 69th minute when Messi rolled back the years and set up Alvarez for his second goal of the night.

Croatia did not get anyone sent off in their semi-final, so there are no suspension issues for Zlatko Dalić to contend with, but they do have one big injury issue. Brozovic had to leave the field against Argentina due to a thigh issue, so there is a high chance that he will not be fit enough to play on Saturday afternoon. Apart from that, Dalić will have a full squad to pick from.

Croatia Starting Lineup

In their defeat to Argentina, Croatia opted for a 4-3-3 formation once again, so we expect that they will use the same formation for this third-fourth play-off match against Morocco. We do not think that Brozovic will be fit to take to the field, so this will be the one and only change that Dalić will make to his starting XI. Below is the starting XI that our Croatia vs Morocco prediction has it will start against Morocco:

• D. Livaković
• J. Juranović
• D. Lovren
• J. Gvardiol
• B. Sosa
• L. Modrić
• N. Vlašić
• M. Kovačić
• A. Kramarić
• B. Petković
• I. Perišić

Croatia Players to Watch

Croatia, although being a tiny country with a population of just 4 million, have always produced some top-quality footballers, and below are three Croatian players that you should keep an eye on whey they play against Morocco on the 17th of December.

• Luka Modrić: The likes of Messi and Ronaldo are always talked about when it comes to speaking about the best players in the world, but we think that Modrić does not get the attention that he deserves. He is one of the best midfielders ever, and Morocco will have to keep a close eye on him or he will pull them out of position and set his teammates away with his quality passing skills. This is likely to be his last World Cup, so he will want to leave it with a 3rd place medal to go along with his runners-up one that he claimed four years ago
• Dominic Livaković: There is every chance that this match will go the distance, and Livaković has already proven that he can be relied upon when it comes to saving penalties – he was the star man in both the penalty shootouts that Croatia won at this World Cup. However, against Brazil, he also showed that he is really good at one-on-one situations. Morocco can be dangerous in attack, so it will be interesting to see if he can put in another top-notch performance
• Joško Gvardiol: The 20-year-old will probably have nightmares about Messi having been made a fool of for Argentina’s third goal in the semi-final, but he should not be too hard on himself as he has been one of the best defenders at this World Cup. He will definitely soon be playing for the likes of PSG, Man City, or Real Madrid, and we are looking forward to seeing him in action one last time at this World Cup

☍ Morocco Form and Team News

If you put your money on Morocco to top their group and then go on to make it to the semi-finals of the World Cup, then you would have made a lovely profit. As we mentioned above, their first game of the competition was a 0-0 draw against Croatia. Their second game of the competition was against group favourites Belgium, and the North Africans put in a quality showing to win the game 2-0 and leave Belgium on the brink of elimination. Their final game of the Group Stage was against Canada, and a draw was good enough to seal qualification. However, the won the match 2-1 and claimed top spot in the group.

For finishing first in their group, Morocco were rewarded with a Round of 16 match against Spain, so they were obviously the underdogs. However, like they showed in the group stage, they love being the underdogs, and another quality defensive showing took the game to a penalty shootout. To give you an idea as to how well they defended, Spain had more than 1000 passes, but only had one shot on target. Bono was the hero during the penalty shootout and helped his team to a 3-0 win and a spot in the last eight.

Their Quarter-Final was against Portugal, who had thrashed the Swiss 6-1 in order to be there, so many would have bet on this being the stage where Morocco’s adventure ended. However, Morocco had other ideas, and showed the defensive skill they have become known for to keep a talented Portugal team at bay. Y. En-Nesyri found the back of the net a few minutes before the break, and this goal was enough to see Morocco become the first team from Africa to reach a World Cup semi-final.

France was the team that stood before Morocco and a spot in the final, and this was always going to be their hardest assignment to date due to the quality of the French team and the fact that Morocco, who do not have a lot of depth in their squad, had many injury issues. They had to make a change to their defensive line minutes before kick-off, while their captain, Saiss, had to leave the field with 20 minutes played. Morocco conceded before 5 minutes, but they did not let this get to them and they caused France many issues, but just could not find the back of the net. Their World Cup dream was all but over when Randal Kolo Muani tapped home from close range with a little over ten minutes to go. Morocco were beaten, but not bowed.

There were no sending offs in this match, so Morocco manager, Walid Regragui, does not have any issues on that front either. However, he definitely does have issues when it comes to injuries with the likes of Saiss and Aguerd unlikely to be fit to play. However, he does at least have Cheddira back from serving a suspension after having received two yellows in the Quarter-Final.

Morocco Starting Lineup

At the start of the game against France, Morocco opted for a 5-4-1 formation to counter France’s attacking talent, but due to the fact that Croatia are not potent up front, we expect them to the 4-3-3 formation that they have used for the rest of this competition. Due to the two aforementioned injuries, Regragui will have to make two enforced changes, so this is how our Croatia vs Morocco prediction has it that they will line up against Croatia:

• Bono
• A. Hakimi
• J. Yamiq
• A. Dari
• N. Mazraoui
• A. Ounahi
• S. Amrabat
• A. Sabiri
• H. Ziyech
• Y. En-Nesyri
• S. Boufal

Morocco Players to Watch

Not many people would have known much about Morocco players before this World Cup, but this is something that they have changed with their wonderful performances. Below we have given you three Moroccan players that we recommend you should keep a close eye on when they take on Croatia on Saturday afternoon.

• Hakim Ziyech: The Chelsea midfielder has had struggles with his club this season, but he has put in a number of fine performances for his country at this World Cup. When he plays to the best of his ability, he has the technical skill and pace to cause issues for any defender out there. If Croatia give him any space, then he could cause a whole host of issues, and we look forward to seeing him in action one last time
• Bono: The Sevilla goalkeeper has been really good at this World Cup, and there is a good chance that he will have to show off his penalty saving skills in this match. He might not have an awful lot to do during the first 90 minutes as Croatia do not create a lot of chances, which means he will have to keep his concentration for when the Croats do get a shot away. Can he do it? Well, we will have to wait and see
• Sofiane Boufal: In our opinion, Boufal has been one of Morocco’s best players at this World Cup and whenever he gets on the ball you just get a sense that he can make something happen. If Croatia let him run at them, then his pace and trickery will cause them plenty of problems. At the moment he plays for Angers in Ligue 1, but after his showing at this World Cup, we would not be surprised if he gets a move to a bigger team at some stage in the near future

France vs Morocco Betting Odds

Here at Betiton, we love nothing more than providing our punters with top WC 2022 betting odds because we feel that all our players deserve the opportunity to get the most out of their money. No matter the kind of market that you want to make World Cup bets on, we can guarantee you that you will find competitive odds for it right here. Two popular football betting markets are Match Winner and Total Goals Scored, so below you can find the odds that we are offering for both of these markets:

Match Winner

Over/Under 2.5 Goals

Who Will Win? Croatia vs Morocco Prediction

So, if we were to do some online sports betting on this third/fourth play-off match for Croatia vs Morocco, who would be betting on? Well, this really is a tough match to call, in all honesty, making this Croatia vs Morocco prediction one of the most difficult predictions we had to write. Moreover, there is a very good chance that they will cancel each other out, like they did back in the group stages. With this in mind, our World Cup betting tip for this game is to bet on a draw, with Croatia to come out on top in extra-time.

Our Croatia vs Morocco prediction: Draw after 90 mins (Croatia to win in Extra-Time)

Our Croatia vs Morocco Betting Tips

What other World Cup tips can we give you for this match? Well, if you don’t want to bet on a draw due to the risk involved, then betting on there being under 2.5 goals in 90 minutes is a good bet, in our opinion. These two teams do not score a lot of goals, so even if there is a winner in normal time, it will only be by a solitary goal.