WORLD CUP PREVIEW Sat: Croatia v Morocco

When it comes to the Third-Place Playoff in the World Cup most people are either in the camp of (a) Thinking it’s pointless or (b) Thinking it’s pointless.

Certainly that might well be the case as far as the teams are concerned too and I must admit I’m not really keen on the fight for bronze medal between two teams that have given their all and devastated not to be in Sunday’s final.

It is what it is though and if there is a betting angle it might be on playing the extremities in terms of goals which is not quite the juxtaposition that it might first appear.

Having nothing left to play for, bar pride, could easily translate a tight cagey affair with no appetite for goals – or the polar opposite – a loose game where the floodgates really do open.

Certainly in the history of Third-Place playoff in the World Cup it’s been more the latter … just look at the last 10:

LAST 10 THIRD-PLACE PLAYOFF RESULTS:
1982 Poland 3-2 France
1986 France 4-2 Belgium
1990 Italy 2-1 England
1994 Sweden 4-0 Bulgaria
1998 Croatia 2-1 Netherlands
2002 Turkey 3-2 South Korea
2006 Germany 3-1 Portugal
2010 Germany 3-2 Uruguay
2014 Netherlands 3-0 Brazil
2018 Belgium 2-0 England

This would imply plenty of goals but the only thing that wants me to keep 0-0 on side is the fact that we have the perfect formline for this match as Croatia and Morocco have already met – the ninth game of the tournament which finished 0-0 in their Group stage opener.

Croatia v Morocco
FIFA World Cup 2022 Third Place Play-Off
3pm BBC One,BBC iPlayer,BBC Sport Website

LAST FIVE STATS

HEAD-TO-HEAD
DEC 1996 INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY Morocco 2-2 Croatia
NOV 2022 WORLD CUP Morocco 0-0 Croatia

CROATIA
NOV 2022 WORLD CUP Croatia 4-1 Canada
DEC 2022 WORLD CUP Croatia 0-0 Belgium
DEC 2022 WORLD CUP Japan 1-1 Croatia
DEC 2022 WORLD CUP Croatia 1-1 Brazil
DEC 2022 WORLD CUP Argentina 3-0 Croatia

MOROCCO
NOV 2022 WORLD CUP Belgium 0-2 Morocco
DEC 2022 WORLD CUP Canada 1-2 Morocco
DEC 2022 WORLD CUP Morocco 0-0 Spain
DEC 2022 WORLD CUP Morocco 1-0 Portugal
DEC 2022 WORLD CUP France 2-0 Morocco

Both sides have outperformed their pre-tournament expectations, especially Morocco who became the first African team to reach the last four.

I’m slightly surprised to see Croatia as favourites with starsports.bet as I thought it would be more of a ‘pick’em’ market, like Sunday’s final is.

If anything, Morocco seemed to have a lot more petrol left in the tank in the semi-finals rather than Croatia who simply ran out of steam.

Morocco could have made it much harder for France but for Jawad El Yamiq’s overhead kick which was pushed on to the goalpost by France’s keeper Hugo Lloris.

Dave Jolly, head of trading at starsports.bet thought it was a trappy game to price up or even take a strong view on.

He said: “It’s often the case in the Third-Place playoff that the team that was better fancied pre-tournament gets beaten but that might not be the case here.

“One thing is certain is the teams might be unrecognisable from what we’ve already seen with heavy rotations likely. Not least of which because of the injuries that have mounted up for Morocco and huge uncertainty as to whether Luka Modric has played his last game for Croatia.

“We’ve a cracker to look forward to on Sunday and I’d expect most punters to be focussed on that but you never know.”

So back to where I started and the extremities in a match where I marginally favour Morocco but the goals markets appeal much more.

0-0 (again) at 9/1, over 4.5 total goals at 5/1 and both teams to score in both halves at 10/1 – all with starsports.bet – will hopefully provide a decent starter ahead of Sunday’s main course.

DAVID STEWART

---

RECOMMENDED BETS

BACK 0-0 correct score 1.5pts at 9/1 (Latest Star Price ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK over 4.5 total goals 3pts at 5/1 (Latest Star Price ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK both teams to score in both halves 2pts at 10/1 (Latest Star Price ? CLICK TO BET NOW)

---

PROFIT/LOSS (WORLD CUP 2022): LOSS 48.28 points (after matches on Sat 10 Dec, includes TWO GOOD bonus on CAMEROON v SERBIA 28 Nov)
(Will include returns from both the OUTRIGHT and SPECIALS previews too)

---

STAR PROMOTIONS