Doha, Qatar – Croatia have defeated Morocco in the third-place playoff of the football World Cup in Qatar, completing another impressive run after finishing runners-up in the previous tournament four years ago.

Zlatko Dalic’s side took the lead on Saturday with Josko Gvardiol’s header in the seventh minute. But Walid Regragui’s players hit back quickly, with Achraf Dari bringing the game at Khalifa International Stadium level just two minutes later.

Mislav Orsic’s spectacular curling effort in the 42nd minute gave Croatia the lead again, and ultimately the victory to the 2018 finalists in Russia.

Morocco, the surprise team of the tournament and the first from Africa to reach the last four, tried to find the equaliser until the last minute but was unable to break through the Croatia defence.