Morroco 0-0 Croatia: Spoils shared in opening Group F game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Morroco and Croatia shared the spoils in a 0-0 draw to kick-start the battle for a place in the Knock-out rounds in Group F.
2018 FIFA World Cup runners-up Croatia were pre-match favourites but were forced to spend most of the opening exchanges in their own half by the Morrocan’s.
Chelsea forward Hakim Ziyech combining effectively down the right with Hakimi as the North Africans threatened though with El Nesryi’s missed header from a Ziyech cross the best attempt of the opening half an hour.
It was Morroco who had the first shot on goal which forced Livakovic to stretch and smother off his goal in the 13th minute of the game.
Croatia threatened in the 17th minute through Tottenham Hotspur striker Ivan Perisic who fired a 30-yard effort narrowly over the crossbar.
Both teams enjoyed fairly-even amount of possession but there was little of goal mouth action as Morroco managed to neutralize the dangerous Croatian Midfielders.
Half time ended goalless at the Al Bayt Stadium.
Another scrappy 45 minutes followed, this time Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric had space to dictate proceedings from the middle .
Morroco’s Ziyech was invisible throughout the half while Croatia’s Matteo Kovacic was unimpressive as he failed to get into the keenly contested Midfield exchanges.
At the expiration of regulation time it finished 0-0. A draw for two-evenly matched Group F sides who deserve nothing more than a point apiece for their performance today.
