FIFA World Cup 2022, Morocco hold Croatia 0-0: Key stats
What's the story
Morocco and Croatia played out a 0-0 draw in their FIFA World Cup Group F opener on Wednesday at the Al Bayt Stadium.
Croatia lacked the spark to cause much damage to a well-drilled Morocco outfit.
Morocco showed character but failed to find any solid opportunities. Both sides will be satisfied with a point following a hard-fought contest.
Here we present the key stats.
Stats
Key match stats and details about Group F
Croatia enjoyed more of the ball and clocked a 65% possession compared to Morocco's 35.
However, it was Morocco who clocked eight attempts to Croatia's five.
Both sides had two shots on target. Croatia earned five corners but failed to make the most out of the same.
Meanwhile, Group F's other match is between Belgium and Canada later tonight.
Facts
Key records scripted in the match
As per Opta, Croatia failed to score for the first time in 12 World Cup games. It was their only goalless affair since 2006 versus Japan.
Playing their 17th match at the FIFA WC, Morocco have failed to score in nine games, accounting for 53%. Notably, this is the joint-highest percentage of any nation with 10-plus games in the competition.
Croatia
Croatia script these records
As per Opta, at 20 years and 304 days, Josko Gvardiol became the second youngest player to start a World Cup match for Croatia after Mateo Kovacic in 2014 against Brazil (20y 37d).
Luka Modric played his 13th World Cup match for Croatia.
Since a 3-0 defeat against Austria on matchday 1 of the Nations League, Croatia are unbeaten in 7 matches across competitions.
Match
How did the match pan out?
Croatia enjoyed more possession but failed to find any clear-cut chances. Nikola Vlasic's toe-poked effort was saved by Morocco keeper Yassine Bounou.
For Morocco, Noussair Mazraoui saw his back-post header get saved.
Right-back Achraf Hakimi also had his dipping effort saved by the Croatia keeper, who was equally alert.
Both sides kept things tight in what was a cautious effort.