Qatar 2022: Croatia earn an emphatic win over Canada as Morocco stun Belgium
Andrej Kramaric’s brace helped Croatia come from a goal down to defeat Canada 4-1 and boost the team’s chances of qualifying for the knockout stages of the 2022 World Cup.
Canada were on the front foot from the first whistle, and within two minutes, Tajon Buchanan’s great cross into space in the box was met by a storming Alphonso Davies, who powered a header into the back of the net.
The goal, which was scored after 1:08, was Canada’s first-ever goal in a men’s World Cup finals, the fastest of the tournament so far, and the quickest World Cup goal since Denmark Mathias Jorgensen’s against Croatia in 2018.
Canada continued to threaten in the opening minutes of the half but were unable to further test Dominik Livakovic, something they’d come to regret as in the 36th minute, Croatia scored their first. Some great feet from Ivan Perisic saw him lay off the ball to Kramaric, who squeezed the ball past Milan Borjan from a tight angle into the far post.
The Croatian’s second came just on the brink of half-time after an extended period of pressure, with Marko Livaja taking a touch and firing a shot to beat Borjan.
Canada changed their set-up in the second-half, placing Davies up top as a striker, and while they had a few more bright moments, the game was put to bed in the 70th minute, with Kramaric getting his brace. He received the ball from Perisic and was able to shoot through the legs of Atiba Hutchinson and into the bottom corner.
Croatia scored a fourth in added time as Canada chased a consolation after a Kamal Miller mistake allowed them to break. Mislav Orsic laid it off for Lovro Majer to score an easy goal which Brojan could do nothing about.
The fourth goal may not have meant much in the context of the game, but it allows Croatia to slide into the top spot of Group F on goal difference and will now look to qualify for the knockout round against Belgium, while Canada face off against a Moroccan side that stunned Belgium in the first group game.
Morocco caused the latest shock at a World Cup that has been full of surprises thanks to late goals by Abdelhamid Sabiri and Zakaria Aboukhlal.
Belgium were once again underwhelming, with great names on paper, but the performance on the pitch looked disconnected. They hardly ever managed to string together attacking patterns of play and looked overall lethargic in attack.
Morocco on the other hand, were valiant. A clear plan, executed to perfection. They created their own good luck with the first goal, while their second goal summed up their performance.
With this win, not only have Morocco stunned the football world, but they have given themselves a realistic chance to qualify from their World Cup group for only the second time in their history, and based on their performance, they deserve it. .
They were unlucky not to go into half-time 1-0 up, as Hakim Ziyech’s goal was chalked off by VAR for offside on Romain Saiss. So, they reloaded it. In the 73rd minute, they scored an almost identical goal, on the other side of the pitch, on the opposite side of the goal, this time whipped in by Abdelhamid Sabiri.
Morocco’s second goal came as Ziyech once again, took responsibility, driving forward, staying strong on the ball, before having the brilliant intelligence to pull it back to Aboukhlal, whose shot found the top corner.
The players were brilliant, the manager’s system worked wonders, but the Moroccan fans were quite something else. They cheered and supported the entire game. The atmosphere was one of a home game, where the away fans were swallowed up. They were phenomenal, before, during and after the game.
