Croatia beat Morocco 2-1 in the World Cup third-place playoff on Saturday to secure a top three finish in the tournament as Morocco, the first World Cup semi-finalists in history, came in fourth.
Runners-up in 2018, Croatia also came third in the 1998 World Cup, beating the Netherlands 2-1.
Josko Gvardiol put Croatia in front after a well-designed set-piece play. Lovro Majer lobbed a free-kick to Ivan Perisic, who peeled away from his marker to head the ball to the middle of the box where Gvardiol was perfectly positioned to nod the ball into the net with a brilliant diving header.
But it only took two minutes for Morocco to find the equalizer, also from a free-kick, as Croatia’s Majer tried to clear the ball but miscalculated his header and missed badly, setting up Morocco’s Achraf Dari, who was alone in the six-yard-box to send home a close-range header.
Croatia scored the winner three minutes from the break when Mislav Orsic netted a dipping, curled shot from just inside the area that went in off the post. They held their lead through an absorbing yet goalless second half.
The "Lions of the Atlas" were the first Arab or African team ever to reach a semi-final in 92 years of football's top tournament.
Morocco had a string of victories, including over Belgium, Spain and Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal.
But France ended Morocco's World Cup dream as goals from Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani gave the holders a 2-0 win in their semi-final clash to set up a showdown on Sunday with Lionel Messi's Argentina.
