FIFA World Cup third-place playoff: Romain Saiss and Azzedine Ounahi miss out as Morocco name playing XI for Croatia game

Morocco's starting lineup for their FIFA World Cup third-place playoff game against Croatia has been released. There's no place in the side for Romain Saiss or Azzedine Ounahi.

The heroic Yassine Bounou has been selected in goal by Moroccan manager Walid Regragui. Bounou was the hero in the Atlas Lions' knockout victories over Spain and Portugal.

Meanwhile, Achraf Hakimi, Achraf Daqi, Jawad El Yamiq and Yahia Attiat-Allah will start in defence. The Atlas Lions have conceded just three goals in the FIFA World Cup.

Bilal El Khanouss, Sofyan Ambrabat, and Abdelhamid Sabiri are in midfield. Hakim Ziyech, Youssef En-Nesyri and Sofiane Boufal will start in attack. En-Nesyri is a man in form, scoring twice in six games, including a memorable headed winner against Portugal in the quarterfinals.

🚨تشكيلة المنتخب الوطني أمام منتخب كرواتيا

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗫𝗜 against Croatia 🇭🇷

#DimaMaghrib 🇲🇦 #TeamMorocco #FIFAWorldCup @pumafootball https://t.co/jCsewAJl04

Morocco's memorable 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign could end on a high

The Atlas Lions have had an incredible campaign.

Morocco started their FIFA World Cup campaign in Group F alongside Belgium, who were touted as the favourites to win the group. The Atlas Lions had 2018 World Cup runners up Croatia and newcomers Canada as well.

They started their campaign with a goalless draw against Vatreni, where they had chances to take all three points. However, it was Morocco's 2-0 win over Belgium in their second fixture alerted many to the side's credentials. Goals from Roman Saiss and Zakaria Aboukhlal did the damage against Roberto Martinez's beleaguered Belgians.

The Atlas Lions then secured a 2-1 win over Canada through goals from Hakim Ziyech and Youseff En-Nesyri to claim top spot in Group F. They were drawn against Spain in the last 16, where they shocked the 2010 world champions 3-0 on penalties after 120 goalless minutes.

However, their best performance came in their 1-0 win over Portugal in the quarterfinals. Many had expected Selecao das Quinas to have a comfortable outing after thrashing Switzerland 6-1 in the previous round.

It was an incredible run from Morocco 👏

🇲🇦 Finished first in their group
🇲🇦 Defeated three of the top 10 teams in the world (Belgium, Spain, Portugal)
🇲🇦 First African team to reach the World Cup semifinals https://t.co/txbTzTjNWi

However, Regragui's men prevailed to set up a last-four clash with France. Les Bleus ended Morocco's hopes of making the final, but they made history along the way. They became the first African side to reach the semifinals at a FIFA World Cup and did so in style.

The Atlas Lions will look to end their historic campaign on a high by beating last edition's finalists.