Morocco Aims for Third Place in World Cup Clash Against Croatia

In a press conference on Friday, the coach of the Moroccan team declared that despite the injured players, Morocco will do everything to win the third place match for the supporters, for all those who have accompanied the national team throughout the competition. Winning against Croatia will allow the Atlas Lions to "climb into the top 3 and improve their position in the FIFA ranking".

Zakaria Aboukhlal agrees. He wants to leave the competition on a good note, even though he knows Croatia won’t make things easy. "We are disappointed not to play the real final, but there is a third place to be won and we want to finish on the podium to end the tournament well. We know it won’t be an easy game against the Croats," he said.

For him, winning Saturday against Croatia would be a good example for all the other African teams. "If we win, the next African team that reaches the semi-finals must win the classification match to equal us, or reach the final to surpass us," says Zakaria Aboukhlal.

The match between Morocco and Croatia is scheduled for 4pm (Moroccan time). Walid Regragui is doubtful about the presence of Romain Saiss, Nayef Aguerd, Noussair Mazraoui and Youssef En-Nesyri in this match. But that won’t prevent the rest of the team from fighting for this 3rd place. "We have a good squad, I trust my players and those who will come in, they will give their all," he assures.