Croatia and Morocco will likely be going head-to-head on the Khali International Stadium within the third-place play-off on December 17. The match will kick off at 8:30 PM Indian Standard Time (IST).
Croatia and Morocco – each unbeaten till their defeat within the semifinals – misplaced to finalists Argentina 3-0 and France 2-0, respectively.
Morocco rewrote historical past alongside the way in which when Walid Regragui’s fearless squad grew to become the primary African crew to achieve the final 4 of soccer’s showpiece occasion. The Atlas Lions beat European giants Belgium, Spain and Portugal en path to the semifinal.
Zlatko Dalic’s Croatia, in the meantime, knocked out Brazil within the quarterfinal to safe its second successive semifinal berth on the FIFA World Cup.
Croatia and Morocco met solely twice, together with the Group F conflict on this World Cup when the 2 sides settled for a draw and their first assembly got here method again in 1996 within the Hassan II Trophy. There too they performed out a 2-2 draw.
Qatari official Abdulrahman Al-Jassim will likely be in control of the proceedings tonight.
Who is Al-Jassim?
At 35-year, Al-Jassim is without doubt one of the youngest referees on the FIFA World Cup 2022. He has expertise officiating FIFA Club World Cup, CONCACAF Gold Cup, Chinese Super League, Swiss Challenge League, Qatar Stars League, AFC Asian Cup, Asian Champions League and FIFA World Cup matches.
Saturday’s match would be the Qatari referee’s second and remaining look at this World Cup. He officiated the Group B recreation between Wales and the United States on 21 November which resulted in a 1-1 draw. Al-Jassim produced six yellow playing cards through the course of the sport.
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In Portugal vs Uruguay Group H conflict, he was the fourth official.
Al-Jassim made his debut in February 2012 when he oversaw a global pleasant between Jordan and Iran.
Prior to the World Cup, he officiated two Qatar Stars League matches – Al Wakrah vs Al Sadd and Al Arabi vs Al Duhail – and produced 9 yellow playing cards.
In Croatia-Morocco’s third-place playoff, Al-Jassim will likely be assisted by compatriots Taleb Al Marri and Saoud Al Maqaleh, whereas Brazilian Raphael Claus would be the fourth official. Chilean Julio Bascunan would be the Video Assistant Referee (VAR
Match officers for Croatia vs Morocco FIFA World Cup 2022 third-place playoff
Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)
Assistant Referees: Taleb Al Marri (Qatar) and Saoud Al Maqaleh (Qatar)
Fourth Official: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
VAR: Julio Bascunan (Chile)