November 23, (THEWILL) – On Wednesday, Croatia’s World Cup Group F opener against Morocco ended in a 0-0 stalemate, falling far short of expectations due to their lacklustre performance, even though Luka Modric set an unprecedented record.
At Al Bayt Stadium, Zlatko Dalic’s team, the runners-up four years ago, were heavy favourites but created few noteworthy opportunities, which means Belgium can take the early advantage in the other group match against Canada later today.
Croatia were lucky to still be tied at halftime after Nikola Vlasic went close as Morocco took hold of sections of the play in the early minutes, but the backing of supporters did not translate into on-field dominance for the North Africans. Croatia were so outnumbered in the stands that they essentially resembled an away team.
Despite having a significantly higher percentage of possession, Croatia failed to capitalise on it. Dejan Lovren saw another decent opportunity pass by early in the second half to summarise the game for the Croatians.
Although Modric became the first player to play in both the World Cup and Euros in three different decades, he could not make magic happen as Morocco and Croatia started off Group F with a point each. Both of the upcoming matches—Morocco versus Belgium and Croatia versus Canada—will be played on Sunday.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
