Croatia, Morocco share spoils in goalless World Cup draw

By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp

ANKARA (AA) - Croatia and Morocco shared the spoils in a goalless draw in their World Cup Group F opener on Wednesday.

Chances were few and far between as the two sides played out an evenly contested game at the Al Bayt Stadium.

Ivan Perisic was the first who came close to breaking the deadlock, unleashing a long-distance strike in the 17th minute that flashed just over the bar.

The best chance of the half fell to Nikola Vlasic in stoppage time, but his shot from point-blank range was blocked by Morocco’s goalie Bono.

Bono thwarted another Croatia attempt just minutes into the second half, bravely reaching into a crowd to prevent what would have been a tap-in.

Morocco suffered an injury setback as Bayern Munich wing-back Noussair Mazraoui was stretchered off the pitch just before the hour mark.

A 64th-minute free kick saw Achraf Hakimi drive a powerful swerving shot from a long way out that was punched away by Croatia’s keeper Dominik Livakovic.

Belgium will take on Canada later in the day in another Group F game.