* They showed that an African nation can go all the way to the semi-finals
* The North African country saw off 2010 World Cup champions Spain in Round of 16
* And Cristiano Ronaldo’s heavily-fancied Portugal 1-0 in the quarterfinals
* In the group stages, they drew 0-0 with the same Croatia having beaten Belgium 2-0 and Canada 2-1
By Alexander Netherton & Cyran Baynes, Eurosport
Jürgen Klinsmann, who was part of the 1990 FIFA World Cup winning team as West Germany and also champion of the unified Germany that won the 1996 UEFA Championship, hails Morocco’s 2022 World Cup achievements in Qatar — saying: “They conquered the World.”
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Morocco, who made history as the first African and Arab country to reach the semifinal of the greatest football fiesta, came fourth in the third-place play-off after losing to Croatia 1-2 on Saturday in a very competitive match.
Croatia scored first in the 7th minute through a diving header from Josko Gvardiol but the Atlas Lions equalized two minutes later through Achraf Dari — and just before half-time, Mislav Orsisc scored his country’s second goal.
Both teams had plenty of chances to change the course of the match throughout the second half until the final whistle at 2-1.
Klinsmann, one of the world’s revered player
Klinsmann, who played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, Bayern Munich — and also coached Germany to a third-place finish in the 2006 World Cup — said of Morocco: “They will realise they conquered the world, they showed that an African nation can go all the way to the semi-finals.”
Coming up against Croatia, who are World Cup veterans having contested every World Cup from 1998 since the formation of their country after the break-up of Yugoslavia, was a step too far for Morocco.
And Klinsmann acknowledged that Luka Modric’s men were the deserved winners as they were the better side and more ruthless.
“The last final piece was just lacking. They did well but you had the feeling they were never going to win this game,” said the former world class star.
Considered one of Germany’s premier strikers in the 1990s and was named in the FIFA 100 lists of the ‘125 Greatest Living Footballers’ in 2004, Klinsmann believes Morocco would ultimately shake off any disappointment and be proud of their tournament.
Morocco were unhappy with some refereeing decisions but Klinsmann suggested that once emotions have settled, Morocco will reflect proudly on their achievements.
Another renowned world football pundit, Alex Scott agreed with Klinsmann, saying Morocco would not let the disappointment cloud their success — given the historic achievements of the North African country after seeing off 2010 World Cup champions Spain in Round of 16.
Scott told the BBC Sport that the Atlas Lions would ultimately realise what a step forward it had been to reach the final four, and be in a position to contest Saturday’s game.
“The game gave us everything we wanted,” he said. “The pure emotion. We don’t want these scenes from Morocco players, but that’s what it means for their country, how proud they are. You can see how much it means to them.”
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In their sixth World Cup, the Atlas Lions made history when they became the first African team to qualify for the semifinals when they beat Cristiano Ronaldo’s heavily-fancied Portugal 1-0.
This is not the first time to beat Portugal as their did it as well in their memorable second appearance in 1986 in which they went on to draw against Poland and England to reach their first-ever knockout stages of the Round of 16 in which fell narrowly short against West Germany.
In the group stages, they drew 0-0 with the same Croatia in the last qualifying match having beaten Belgium 2-0 in the first and Canada 2-1 in the second — to date Spain in Round of 16 whom they 3-0 through post match penalties.
The Atlas Lions became the fourth African nation to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup, following in the footsteps of Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010).
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Until then, none from Africa — or the Arab world — had ever made it to the last four, with only Senegal making it into the Qatar 2022 knockout stages where they lost 0-3 against England in the Round of 16, having qualified in Group A alongside hosts Qatar (3-1), Ecuador (2-1) and Netherlands (0-2).
Tunisia, Cameroon and Ghana never made it to the knockout stages in their groups — Tunisia in Group D with France (1-0), Australia (0-1) and Denmark (0-0); Cameroon in Group G with Brazil (1-0); Serbia (3-3) and Switzerland (0-1 while Ghana in Group H were against Portugal (2-3); Uruguay (0-2) and South Korea (3-2).
Morocco are unbeaten in their last six World Cup matches (W3 D3), the longest unbeaten run by an African nation in World Cup history. They have kept four clean sheets at World Cup 2022, one more than they’d recorded in their first 16 games in the competition between 1970 and 2018 (3).
Their total of seven clean sheets is the joint-most by an African nation in World Cup history (level with Nigeria) while Youssef En-Nesyri has now scored more World Cup goals than any other Morocco player in their history in the competition (3).
Yassine Bounou, who made his 50th appearance for Morocco against Portugal, became the first African goalkeeper to record three clean sheets in a single edition of the World Cup.
When Morocco faced Spain in the last 16, Yassine Bounou also became the first African goalkeeper to save a penalty in a World Cup shootout (saved two).
They have won three games at World Cup 2022 as no African side ever won more games at a single edition of the World Cup.
Coach Walid Regragui reached the World Cup semi-finals after only eight games in charge of Morocco — the lowest total of games before reaching this stage since Otto Gloria with Portugal in 1966 (5th game).—Additional reporting by Maravi Express & CAFonline
