Croatia national team was mocked on social media for celebrating their third-place finish in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar like they won the tournament.
After defeating Morocco 2-1 in Saturday’s playoff game at Khalifa International Stadium, Zlatko Dalic’s team clinched third place.
After the victory, there were celebrations, and the Croatian players and staff ran onto the field to celebrate before receiving their bronze medals.
Recall that Croatia didn’t celebrate when they finished second in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Interestingly, the Croatian players celebrated their Qatar World Cup third place finish like winners of the tournament in the 2022 edition.
A fan wrote: “One thing I find really funny about finishing 3rd place in the World Cup? It’s the finishers are actually happier than those who finished in 2nd place.”
“In 2018 we saw the Croatia players look so gloomy finishing 2nd but look at them happy and celebrating 3rd”, a fan noted.
“Croatia celebrating like they won the bloody tournament. Embarassing,’ a third fan said. While another said, ‘I don’t understand why Croatia are celebrating as they’ve finished 3rd’.
A fifth fan mirrored similar views, posting: ‘4 years ago Croatia were crying as they finished runners up, today they are happy and celebrating as they finished 3rd place. Make it sense’.
Defender Josko Gvardiol’s close-range header gave Croatia the advantage after just seven minutes.
Achraf Dari of Morocco responded with a header of his own to pull Morocco level, but Croatia took the lead after 42 minutes on Mislav Orsic’s outstanding shot, which ultimately proved to be the game-winning score.
The scenes!!! ❤️#FIFAWorldCup #HRV #Vatreni pic.twitter.com/j63Eqsz0wa
— Croatian Football 🇭🇷🇺🇦 (@CroatiaFooty) December 17, 2022
The 2022 World Cup will come to an end when Argentina and the defending winners France square off in the championship game on Sunday at Lusail Stadium.
Croatia
Croatia is represented internationally by the national football team, known in Croatian as Hrvatska nogometna reprezentacija.
The Croatian Football Federation (HNS), which oversees football in Croatia, is in charge of it. It participates in international competitions as a member of both FIFA and UEFA.
The team’s colors are a nod to two flags of Croatia: the tricolor and the checkerboard. They go by the nicknames Vatreni (the “Blazers”) and Kockasti (the “Checkered Ones”) in common speech.
All major competitions since 1994 have seen the Vatreni qualify, with the exception of Euro 2000 and the 2010 World Cup.
They have previously advanced to the UEFA European Championship quarterfinals (1996, 2008), and they will play in the 2023 UEFA Nations League semifinals.
Croatia has won three World Cup medals by finishing second once (in 2018) and third twice (1998, 2022) at the FIFA World Cup.
The Golden Shoe was won by Davor “uker” in 1998, and the Golden Ball by Luka Modric in 2018.
Croatia achieved their highest-ever Elo rating of 2,006 points in July 1998.
FIFA World Cup Third Place
Josko Gvardiol and Mislav Orsic scored outstanding goals as Croatia defeated Morocco 2-1 to take third place for the second time in World Cup history.
While the 37-year-old has committed to play in the Nations League finals next summer, the victory also allows Croatia captain Luka Modric to finish what is likely to be his final World Cup with a bronze medal.
After finishing as runners-up to France four years ago, Croatia’s victory secured their third top-three finish at the World Cup, while Morocco’s loss cost them the chance to become the first African country to win a medal at the competition.
Gvardiol’s incredible diving header in the seventh minute gave Croatia the lead, capping off a strong campaign for the talented 20-year-old center-back.
But Morocco quickly rallied, and two minutes later Achraf Dari nodded in from close range.
Orsic’s first-time shot inside the box, which was deflected past Yassine Bounou of Morocco and in off the far post, gave Croatia its first lead back in the 42nd minute.
Youssef En-Nesyri of Croatia came near to scoring a late equalizer, but Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic stopped him to guarantee they won their second World Cup bronze medal after doing so in 1998.
