Beaten semi finalists Croatia and Morocco are tasked with putting disappointment behind them when they contest the third place play off of the 2022 Fifa World Cup on Saturday.

Odds provided by @Playabets are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change.

Croatia

2018 runners up Croatia came up short in their bid to reach a second successive final when they bowed out 3-0 to Argentina is Tuesday's semi. They conceded twice in a 5 minute first half spell and a third midway through the second half sealed their fate.

Croatia were also very much the underdogs for their quarter final match up with Brazil but they came through on spot kicks after the game finished all square, 0-0 after 90 minutes and 1-1 after extra time. They fell behind in extra time before Bruno Petkovic equalized on 117 minutes. Croatia were foot perfect with their 4 spot kicks and their keep Dominik Livakovic saved one and another failed to hit the target.

Croatia booked their quarter final place with another penalty shoot out win over Japan after a 1-1 draw. They conceded just before half time but Perisic squared things up on 55 minutes and the game failed to produce another goal before Dominik Livakovic saved 3 Japan spot kicks.

Croatia came through Group F as runners up to Morocco with Belgium the headline departure in third and Canada never got in a blow. Croatia played out 0-0 draws with Belgium and Morocco either side of a 4-1 win over Canada where a brace from Kramaric and goals from Livaja and Majer helped them through.

Morocco

Morocco were paired with France in Wednesday's semi final and despite giving another excellent account they went down 2-0. They conceded the first goal on 5 minutes and the second on 89 minutes but despite picking up more injuries they still provided a big threat and they created history in being the first African nation to reach the last 4 of the World Cup.

Morocco provided another huge upset when they were 1-0 winners of their quarter final match up with Portugal. Youssef En-Nesyri scored the only goal of the game in the first half and they rode their luck to hold on despite having Walid Cheddira red carded in injury time.

Morocco knocked Spain out in the Round of 16 on penalty kicks. The game finished without a goal and goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was the hero with 2 saves as Spain missed all 3 of their spot kicks.

Morocco were the surprise winners of Group F, finishing with 7 points, 2 clear of Croatia with Belgium the big casualties in third with 4 points and Canada never got in a blow. Morocco held Croatia to a 0-0 draw first time out and then pulled off a huge upset with a 2-0 win over Belgium. A 73rd minute goal from Saïss and an injury time strike from Aboukhlal downed the Belgians. In their final group match against Canada Hakim Ziyech pounced on a goalkeeping error to give them a fourth minute lead, Youssef En-Nesyri doubled the advantage on 23 minutes and although Canada pulled a goal back just before half time there was no further scoring and the 2-1 win saw Morocco finish top.

The Betting:

Croatia are 13/10 to win in regulation time with the draw at 24/10 and Morocco can be backed at 21/10

A game of 3 goals or more (90 minutes) is priced at 0.83/1 and it's 0.68/1 for both teams to score.

The Verdict:

It's been an excellent but gruelling tournament for both nations and the team news will be interesting here. Croatia have by and large opted to restrict rotating their line up, they have a number of players for whom this will be a swan song but they might change things around to some degree. For Morocco it might be a case of who is fit as they have suffered more than most with injuries.

It looks a really tough call to me and I will probably save the bulk of my weekend football budget for Sunday's final. However the occasion warrants a punt and whilst circumstances are very different to when the sides met in the group stage it might come down to who has the legs.

I'll have a nibble at Ziyech (Morocco) and Perisic (Croatia) to score anytime.

Bets: Anytime goalscorer at Hakim Ziyech at 3.05/1 with Playabets

Anytime goalscorer at Ivan Perisic at 26/10 with Playabets

A 100% Welcome bonus up to R10,000 is available for all new customers!

Note, odds are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change

More tips, news and views are available on the Fifa World Cup thread on our discussion forum. If you are new to our community you can open an account here.

GFTG Newsletter

Subscribe to our free weekly betting mailer which will include our best and value bets below.