Croatia took to the pitch on the eve of the FIFA World Cup final, with the European side locking horns with Morocco in the third-place playoff a day before Argentina vs. France.
Vatreni and the Atlas Lions suffered defeats in the semifinals, losing to Messi and Co. and Les Bleus respectively, and thus had to face off for the tournament's bronze medal.
And fortunately, we did not get a repeat of their nil-nil group stage draw. In fact, two goals were scored inside the first 10 minutes of the game.
The 2018 runners-up broke the deadlock, with Josko Gvardiol, one of the star performers at Qatar 2022, scoring a lovely header in the seventh minute. However, within two minutes, the inspirational North African nation drew level, with Achraf Dari equalizing through a well-worked set piece.
Walid Regragui's men mustered a few opportunities after that. However, in an unusual manner, Morocco left themselves defensively vulnerable to counterattacks, and with just three minutes of normal time left before half-time, Hakimi and Co. conceded.
Croatia reclaimed the lead in the 42nd minute courtesy of Mislav Orsic, with the Dinamo Zagreb attacker netting a brilliant goal. The 29-year-old was set up by Marko Livaja, with the aforementioned winger's lofted shot ricocheting off the bar into the back of the net. Check it out in the clips below (videos are geo-restricted).
Mislav Orsic only scores beautiful goals
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 17, 2022
Unreal.
Watch on @BBCOne, @BBCiPlayer and the BBC Sport app.#BBCWorldCup #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/UCeYHOAhMn
OH MY
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) December 17, 2022
Mislav Oršić with a beauty to put Croatia up just before the half pic.twitter.com/OtquwmKsfr
Where does this Mislav Orsic goal rank amongst the best goals scored at the 2022 #FIFAWorldCup?
— SuperSport Football (@SSFootball) December 17, 2022
Top 5
Top 10
Top 20
Stream live: https://t.co/Tg69y0m5GD pic.twitter.com/AavvkgeKVX
Goal!
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) December 17, 2022
Croatia are back in front! A superb curling goal from Mislav Oršić.#FIFAWorldCup #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/xkCJb6fx8i