However, the 2018 runners-up, captained by midfield magician Luka Modric, will open their World Cup campaign against Morocco today with little hoopla and few anticipating triumph. Croatia have won their last five games and have only lost once in the past 16 months.
Zlatko Dalic’s team, who made it all the way to the final before losing to France four years ago, is so unfavorable that bookies are giving them a 50-1 shot this time around.
That is closer to Serbia and has longer odds than Denmark, which is probably how they prefer it.
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“It is going to be hard. But also it is good that we maybe don’t have so much pressure because we did amazing things in Russia. But we still wish and we still want to achieve more,” forward Andrej Kramaric said.
With the pressure of expectation lifted off their shoulders, Dalic’s side can go about their business out of the limelight where they will hope to continue a wave of momentum leading into the tournament.
They won their qualifying group conceding only four goals with just one defeat and that came in their opening game away to Slovenia in March 2021.
They also topped their Nations League group ahead of World Cup holders France, Denmark and Austria, and head into the tournament on the back of a winning streak that culminated in a 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in their final warm-up friendly.
While they may have lost some of the leading names from their 2018 run, such as striker Mario Mandzukic and midfielder Ivan Rakitic, there is no shortage of talent in their ranks, especially in midfield.
Modric, the player of the tournament in 2018, has one last shot at glory at the age of 37, and will line up against Morocco probably part of an impressive midfield trio alongside Inter Milan’s Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic of Chelsea.
Brozovic has shaken off a muscle tear and played 70 minutes against the Saudis, allaying fears about his involvement at the tournament.
They will kick off their Group F campaign at Al Bayt Stadium against a Morocco side whose build-up was overshadowed amid controversy over their coach after they sacked Vahid Halilhodzic in August following a dispute about player selection and replaced him with Walid Regragui.
One of the players at the centre of that dispute, Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech, was excluded by Halilhodzic for disciplinary reasons but recalled by Regragui despite only starting twice for his club this season.
Morocco, who have appeared in five previous World Cups, also suffered an injury blow when forward Amine Harit was ruled out with a knee injury.
When: Today at 1:00pm
Where: Al Bayt Stadium
Capacity: 60,000
Key stats:
– Croatia have qualified for all but one World Cup since independence and reached the semi-finals on their debut in 1998, losing out to winners France.
– Croatia reached the final in 2018 but were beaten by France
– Morocco have reached six World Cups but have not left the group stage in 36 years
– With about 3.9 million people as of last year, Croatia is the smallest country by population to reach a World Cup final since 1950
– To get to the 2018 final, Croatia were the first team at a World Cup to come from behind in three successive knockout round matches, all of which went to extra time, with two settled by penalties
– In qualifying for their six World Cups, Morocco have lost only four matches and had a perfect record of wins in every game to reach Qatar
Previous meetings:
The two countries have met only once, in 1996 in Casablanca in the semi-finals of the Hassan II Trophy, with Croatia winning 7-6 on penalties after a 2-2 draw
