Croatia will now face Canada in their next match on Sunday, November 26, while Morocco will play Belgium 3 hrs before the encounter
By Kehinde Okeowo
A well-drilled Morocco side, earned a deserved 0-0 draw against 2018 World Cup runners-up, Croatia in a Group F match played at the Al Bayt Stadium.
Croatia, who are ranked 12th in the world, dominated the game but were unable to turn their favourable ball possession into goals against the resolute Moroccan defence.
The Blazers, who had 4 players from the side that faced France in the 2018 final on the pitch, lacked the needle spark in front and only came to scoring through Nikola Vlasic’s toe-poked effort in first-half stoppage time.
Vlasic was, however, denied a goal by the right leg of Yassine Bounou, who spread himself to close down the angle.
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Morocco were impressive but failed to create clear-cut opportunities too, but they almost scored when Noussair Mazraoui followed in a deflected shot and saw a back-post header saved.
Achraf Hakimi also tested Dominik Livakovic in Croatia’s goal but the goalkeeper dealt with his swerving strike comfortably.
The encounter, after ending in a stalemate, became the 3rd goalless draw in this year’s World Cup, after Denmark opened their campaign with a draw against Tunisia and Poland held Mexico to another goalless draw on Tuesday.
Croatia will now face North American side, Canada, in their next match on Sunday by 16:00 GMT, while Morocco will play another European side, Belgium three hours before the encounter.
