AL RAYYAN, Qatar -- Wheeling out an inflatable World Cup before kick-off just felt cruel. The giant replica has been a regular feature of the prematch build-up throughout this tournament but Saturday's third-place play-off between Croatia and Morocco was the one game that didn't need it.
This is the only fixture where the participants know they cannot possibly win the trophy they came to compete for.
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And the fact that it takes place just a few days after the pain of a semifinal exit can make it feel like a gruesome afterthought; this was certainly the case for England and Belgium four years ago as two teams with designs on winning the tournament were made to put themselves through another 90 minutes when all they wanted to do was go home.