Croatia ended their World Cup campaign with the pride of claiming third place in a 2-1 win against Morocco, which marked the end of a journey but also promised a bright future, coach Zlatko Dalic said on Saturday.

Mislav Orsic’s late firsthalf strike was enough to settle the contest after two early goals inside the first nine minutes set the tone for a pulsating encounter, Achraf Dari cancelling out Josko Gvardiol’s opener for Croatia.

A bronze medal may have served as nothing more than consolation after both sides endured disappointment in the semi-finals, but Croatia and Morocco looked eager to make amends after losing to Argentina and France, respectively.

For Croatia, it was well-deserved after dominating the early stages of the game and being clinical with opportunities while Morocco were left to rue what might have been after missing several chances.

Croatia beat Brazil in the quarter finals, but for Dalic, Saturday’s bronze medal game was the highlight of their tournament.

“This is bronze with a golden glow. We won a tough game,” said Dalic, who also led the nation of four million people to runners-up in Russia four years ago.

“This is a medal for the Croatian people... It’s really great that we won two medals in two tournaments, big congratulations to my players.

“It was the last match we played. If you remember, I had said if we had lost, it would have been a disaster,” added Dalic, who paid tribute to former Serbia midfielder Sinisa Mihajlovic after his death on Friday.

“It was a difficult, great match. I want to extend my congratulations to Morocco, they put up a great fight until the last minute, despite the fatigue.

“They can be proud, they remind me of us four years ago. We’re among the best teams in the world.”

Croatia can now look forward to the future with confidence. “It’s the end of a cycle for us, the end of a journey. Tonight’s match and the win is the moment of the tournament for us,” said Dalic.

“Yes this is the last World Cup for some of my players due to their age. But we have young players in the team and it is great for Croatia,” he added, referring to Man of the Match Josko Gvardiol, but also Lovro Majer and Borna Sosa. “We have many of the players on the bench, too.”

Dalic, however, is still counting on his old guard for the Nations League and the Euro 2024 qualifiers.

“We would not have been that far without our older players. We have a great future, Croatia has nothing to fear. Is it the end of an era for a generation? Well, we still have the Nations League and the Euro qualifiers. All I know is that Croatia have a bright future.”

Croatia qualified for the Nations League last 4 to be played in June with Italy, Spain and Netherlands.