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Morocco vs Croatia, FIFA World Cup 2022 Highlights: Atlas Lions hold 2018 runners up to goalless draw

Achraf Hakimi produced a player of the match performance for Morocco, looking to hit Croatia on the counter and also made his former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric look off color.

Morocco and Croatia play out goal-less draw in FIFA World Cup 2022 Group F opener

Bengaluru, November 23: A defiant Morocco frustrated 2018 runners up Croatia in a 0-0 draw to open Group F of the FIFA World Cup 2022 at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Kohr on Wednesday (November 23).

Zlatko Dalic's men, who finished runners-up four years ago, were strong favourites ahead of kick off, but were wasteful in the few opportunities they had with the result handing the early initiative to Belgium ahead of their clash with Canada.

Achraf Hakimi produced a player of the match performance for Morocco, looking to hit Croatia on the counter and also made his former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric look off color.

FIFA World Cup 2022 Results | Points Table | Fixtures

In the first half, Croatia were so outnumbered in the stands, but Morocco's superior support did not translate in to on-pitch dominance and the Atlas Lions were lucky to still be level at the break after Nikola Vlasic went close only to be stopped by Yassine Bounou.

Dejan Lovren saw another reasonable chance go begging early in the second half, but otherwise Croatia failed to take advantage of their considerably greater share of possession.

Initially Croatia struggled to cope with the intensity of Morocco's pressing, but the Atlas Lions did not possess the quality to convert their bluster into meaningful chances. Neither side had a great deal of joy in that regard.

However, on the stroke of half-time Morocco were grateful for the intervention of goalkeeper Bounou, who crucially blocked Vlasic's prodded effort from point-blank range after Borna Sosa passed into the danger zone.

That proved a teaser of the improved action to follow early in the second half. It began with Dominik Livakovic keeping out a Noussair Mazraoui header, and a few minutes later Sofyan Amrabat made a vital block to stop Lovren picking out the bottom-left corner.

In the end, Morocco's deep defence ultimately got the better of Croatia's blunt attack as they held on to a commendable point.

What's next in Qatar 2022 Group F?

Belgium face Canada in the other group match on Wednesday (November 23). Morocco take on Belgium on Sunday (November 27), while Croatia will look to get among the win when they face Canada on the same day.

(With Opta inputs)

Story first published: Wednesday, November 23, 2022, 17:47 [IST]
Other articles published on Nov 23, 2022