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Morocco head coach Walid Regragui would probably not bother playing Saturday’s third place play-off given the choice. His team have missed out on a World Cup final and have to live with the emotions – both positive and negative – that that brings out.

They also have to go out and perform one last time in a game with minor stakes and very little reward for winning. Finishing third at the World Cup doesn’t erase the fact that Morocco just missed out on a spot in the final.

“It is a little bit difficult. It is very complicated for both teams. You are so disappointed, you have just lost a semi-final and then two days later you have to go back out there.” explained Regragui when asked about his thoughts on the matter.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know. It is like the booby-prize. I’m sorry for speaking like this. I understand it should be important, I understand it is better to finish third than fourth, but, for me, my takeaway is just that we didn’t get to the final.

“Even if we did get to the final, and I finished second, I would be saying the same thing to you. We want to be as positive as possible, especially for our fans. Finishing third would be great for our image.”

Building off his answer a journalist asked the Moroccan boss if he would have a problem motivating his team for the match on Saturday and Regragui added: “I don’t really need to motivate my team.

“We are at a World Cup and we are representing Morocco. Every game is important, even friendlies, for our supporters. We want to win those too.

“The objective tomorrow is to get that third place because we want to push as far as we can go. We want to up our Fifa ranking. If we finish third in the world we’ll be able to hike up our Fifa ranking.

“We know the next African team, that come against Morocco, will know that we can give them a run for our money. Not only because did we get to the semi-finals, but we also managed to get our hands on that third place.

“We want to show what we’re made of and also pave a way for a better future for Moroccan football. It will be extraordinary if we finish third in a World Cup.”

Santos took on the role of Portugal coach in 2014 and guided his nation to their first major trophy with a triumph at Euro 2016. Portugal were then title winners during the inaugural edition of the Nations League in 2019.

Santos, 68, made the bold call to drop captain Cristiano Ronaldo to the bench this month in Portugal’s last-16 win over Switzerland and subsequent loss to Morocco.

The breaking news from yesterday evening was that Fernando Santos has stepped down as manager of Portugal.

The 68-year-old left his role after eight years in charge following Portugal’s shock 1-0 quarter-final defeat to Morocco at the World Cup.

Santos guided the team to victory at Euro 2016, as well as the inaugural Uefa Nations League in 2019.

22-year-old Morocco striker, Zakaria Aboukhlal, joined his manager for this morning’s press conference and was asked about his experience at this World Cup.

“It has been amazing,” he said, “It is a dream for me to play in a World Cup and I am 22 years old now, so to play in a World Cup and score, like I say, it was my biggest dream.

“Now we are fighting for third place, which is something that nobody expected, but it is like a dream coming true.”

Morocco’s captain Romain Saiss will play no part in the third place play-off Saturday due to the hamstring injury his picked up against Portugal.

Saiss then started the semi-final versus France but had to be substituted after just 20 minutes due to the injury and he won’t be risked in a relatively meaningless game.

“We lost our captain, Romain Saiss, during the game [agains France].” said Morocco boss, Walid Regragui, “We took a risk with him, but it was a risk worth taking. We wanted to go out to battle with him leading our battalion.

“He is injured and we have some other injured players too, and we’ll check how they are today.

“We really, really pushed our players to their limits, but they still want to go out tomorrow and play again. But, we won’t be taking any risks with any of our players tomorrow.

“Romain Saiss is out. However, I am confident, and I trust our group, and I know we’ll be able to give it our all tomorrow.”

Of all the semi-finals in all the World Cups in all of history, they walk into this one. In the entirety of their 122-year history, France had never met Morocco in a competitive fixture. They couldn’t for the first 43 of those years, of course, because there was no such thing as the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, which was only established at the end of the French Protectorate in 1955. Pre-independence meetings were all friendlies, as have been all the others since.

Much has been made in this part of the world of how fate has paired Morocco with several former colonisers on their journey through this tournament, and how that may have pushed them further. There is perhaps a truth in that. Yet regardless of the identity of their opponents, it feels impossible for this squad that hails variously from Montreal to Madrid, Bourg-de-Peage to Paris, Dronten to Huizen, as well as Marrakesh, Fez and Casablanca, to play with anything other than intensity, energy and a singular drive of ambition.

All that was on display again at the Al Bayt. You could see it in Jawad El Yamiq stretching to connect with the ball on an overhead kick, and in doing so almost scoring one of the greatest goals of any semi-final. You could see it in Sofyan Amrabat’s fabulously violent challenge on Kylian Mbappé at the start of the second half, that restored the tone of a no less ferocious first. You could see that too at the final whistle, when all but a handful of Morocco’s players fell on their backs, hands clasped over their heads, lamenting the end of the most remarkable story at this World Cup.

His final contribution brought the ultimate indignity. The byword for precision was smacked in the face by his own shot. Admittedly, it ricocheted back off Alexis Mac Allister and there was little Luka Modric could do about it. The winner of the Golden Ball in the last World Cup nevertheless ended up with the ball in his face in this.

And that, bar a third-place play-off, was Modric’s final involvement on this stage. His number went up seconds after; in effect, the white flag had been raised with it. When the captain came off, it was all over for Croatia. They were 3-0 down. He had wrested back control of one World Cup semi-final, his every pass asserting control with a trademark blend of elegance and intelligence, but that was four years ago against England. There was no repeat. Modric can feel timeless, but his time is up in World Cups.

They all knew it, the Argentina fans who joined in the ovation when Lovro Majer replaced him, his former Real Madrid teammate Angel Di Maria, who sought him out after the final whistle, the now retired Sergio Aguero who came to offer his condolences in the tunnel. Argentina had been graceless winners against the Netherlands in the quarter-final; when it came to Modric, however, they recognised greatness. Perhaps it was the parallel with Lionel Messi, with the other old-timer in his final World Cup; flip the result and others would have commiserated with him. One way or another, sadness was a certainty.

Luka Modric is set to play his final World Cup match on Saturday as Croatia to defeat Morocco and add a third place World Cup finish to their runners-up medals from 2018.

At 37 Modric is unlikely to feature in another World Cup meaning his last hurrah will be against Walid Regragui’s men.

“Croatia played in the last final and have good players, such as Luka Modric,” said Regragui. “He has something about him, but we’ll stay focused on our players. I have a lot of good players and if my team stays focussed just on Modric, that will be a big mistake.

“It is important we play our football, Moroccan football with a positive attitude and you give everything. After this game I hope we have no regrets. That is important for our team.”

More from Morocco head coach Walid Regragui who has been giving a press conference this morning ahead of tomorrow’s play-off.

He was asked to share what he learned from the first game between his side and Croatia during the group stages and replied: “We knew that Croatia were going to be one of the best teams in the competition.

“After the first game we noted that our performance was very good and we had a lot of people saying that Croatia were coming to the end of a cycle and we could sweep the rug from under their feet.

“We know that Croatia got a lot of stick because they weren’t able to beat Morocco, who were meant to be the underdog. Now we’ve both reached the semi-finals.

“I believe tomorrow will be very different to the first game. There was a a lot of respect and preparation and hesitation during the first game. But going into tomorrow, both sides have had a lot more game time.

“I hope that we’re going to be able to put on a good show for the end of the tournament. There will be good tactics, and both teams will be in it to win it. I think it will be a more open game from both sides.”

Impenetrable for so long, Morocco were first forced into and then thrived as a more nuanced version of themselves before bowing out with pride at the hands of defending champions France.

Invigorated by Walid Regragui and embracing such a resolute style without the ball, their game plan was torn to pieces within five minutes of this absorbing World Cup 2022 semi-final.

Les Bleus ruthlessly applied a pin to what was a burgeoning atmosphere filled with whistles swirling around a hostile Al Bayt Stadium packed with Moroccan support.

The world champions happily teased the Atlas Lions, gently nudging what had been an defiant layer in front of Yassine Bounou’s goal. First through Ibrahima Konate, in for the ill Dayot Upamecano, and then Raphael Varane, who both observed and probed early on as Regragui’s men retreated into that familiar shell.

And Morocco were soon entirely deflated after a flash of blue darted into the half space; Jawad El Yamiq was forced to bite, leaving Antoine Griezmann spinning into the space left behind.