By Canadian Press

Former Canada foes face off Saturday to decide third place at the World Cup

Dec 16, 2022 | 1:44 PM

If nothing else, Saturday’s third-place playoff at the World Cup serves as a reminder of the tough neighbourhood that Canada found itself in in its return to the men’s soccer showcase after a 36-year absence.

While second-ranked Belgium was expected to be Canada’s toughest challenge in Group F, No. 12 Croatia and No. 22 Morocco advanced to the knockout rounds and made it all the way to the semifinals before losing to No. 3 Argentina and No. 4 France, respectively.

Croatia and Morocco look to finish the tournament on a winning note when they meet Saturday at Khalifa International stadium to decide third place.

Defending champion France takes on Argentina in Sunday’s final at Lusail Stadium.

The 41st-ranked Canadians opened Group F play with a 1-0 loss to Belgium, before falling 4-1 to Croatia and 2-1 to Morocco.

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“We always knew it was a difficult group. A very difficult group,” Canada coach John Herdman said in an interview on the eve of the third-place game.

“For Canada, we knew what we were getting into,” he added. “It was a hell of a group in terms of the quality of advantages that some of the teams had — their experience.

“I think we competed well in those matches. We had moments where we could have won games and we had moments where we could have got results. And we had moments where we lost the game. And they became big learnings. But at the same time, all credit to Morocco and Croatia. They’re very good teams and I’m really proud and excited to see what Morocco achieved.”

Morocco (2-0-1, seven points) won the group with Croatia (1-0-2, five points) also advancing to the knockout round as runner-up. Belgium (1-1-1, four points) and Canada (0-3-0, zero points) failed to move on.

Morocco went on to beat No. 7 Spain (3-0 in a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw) in the round of 16 and No. 9 Portugal (1-0) in the quarterfinal, making the Atlas Lions the first African team to reach the World Cup semifinals.

Herdman noted the Morocco roster features players from top-tier club teams like Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Sevilla and West Ham

“When you accumulate those 13 to 15 Tier 1 players, you give yourself that real chance (to advance). And it takes time and investment to get out of a group stage. And they showed it.” 

Croatia defeated No. 24 Japan (3-1 on penalties after a 2-2 draw) in the round of 16 and No. 1 Brazil (4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw) in the quarterfinal.

Croatia reached the final in Russia in 2018, losing to France.

Herdman, who was in Toronto for Canada Soccer meetings, admitted he is not that interested in Sunday’s championship game.

“Not really. This World Cup’s sort of done for me,” he said. “When you’ve experienced it, you go through the real highs of living that life. And then you go through the real lows of coming back down to reality and your future focus is somewhere else.

“Without upsetting any French people, I really hope (Argentina captain Lionel) Messi can carry the trophy. I’d love to see him get that accolade and cement his place as the greatest of all time. But at the same time, my feel for the World Cup is a bit different. I’m in that sort of shutdown mode and focusing on (the) 2026 (World Cup) and the plan for 2023.”

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2022.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press