The World Cup third-place playoff: giving us goals and entertainment

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The third-place playoff game between Croatia and Morocco on Saturday will be a chance for both teams to redeem themselves after their disappointing World Cup campaign.

There will be news and features at the World Cup.

Some fans view the playoffs with an air of contempt, expecting a somewhat lackluster contest in which two defeated semifinalists attempt to muster the motivation to go again in search of a victory.

The World Cup third-place playoff is a very high- scoring affair and even where Golden Boots have been won through the years, it's always been a high scoring affair.

A third-place finish at the World Cup would be a huge coup for Morocco, who have already made it to the knockout stages of the tournament. The Atlas Lions made it through the group stage so a place on the podium would be icing on the cake.

Luka Modric's long and distinguished career may be coming to an end on Saturday in the World Cup playoffs, though his coach hopes he will play on until Euro 2024, and he will be hoping to add a bronze to the silver medal he won at the 2002 World Cup.

There are a lot of good reasons for fans to watch the game, and here are a few of the most compelling.

Goal, goal, goal.

The playoffs have goals. It will always be the case. Not a single playoff has finished goalless in regulation time since the first bronze medal match in 1930. Since Poland defeated Brazil in the 1974 World Cup, there have not been fewer than two goals scored.

Only three of the 19 World Cup third-place playoffs have produced a goal.

There have been four goals or more goals in four of the last seven games. Only one World Cup final has featured more than four goals, and there have been just 15 goals scored in regulation time.

Each game has goals.

A grand total of 73 goals have been scored in 19 third-place playoff games over the course of the World Cup, compared to 77 goals scored in 21 World Cup finals.

The playoffs have a slightly higher average goal-per-game ratio than the final.

It's a record-breaker.

The record for the fastest goal scored at a World Cup is held by Hakan Sukur, who scored for Turkey in the third-place game against South Korea in 2002.

There are tendencies to attack.

The third-place playoff tends to see teams throw caution to the wind and use more attacking tactics in a knockout game that has more of an "exhibition" feel.

Even so, the playoffs are still considered an official World Cup game and thus goals and assists registered can make a difference when it comes to post- tournament awards. Three players won the Golden Boot after scoring precious goals in the third place playoffs.

The first was Italy's Toto Schillaci, who scored a late winner from the penalty spot to give Italy a win over England at Italia 1990 and claim the Golden Boot.

Davor Suker of Croatia and Thomas Muller of Germany have both scored crucial goals in the playoffs to jump to the top of the goal- scoring charts.

There is a question about it.

When it comes to the history of international football, the World Cup final takes center stage, but the third-place playoff has its own fair share of quirky historical points of interest.

Since the World Cup began in 1930, Germany have finished third on most occasions. Poland, France, Sweden and Brazil have finished third multiple times.

They have never won a third-place playoff but have finished in the top four in three of the last four years.

Argentina and Spain have never played in a third-place playoff. The 1950 World Cup was played in a round-robin league format and there was no playoffs.

In the past 40 years, third place has been a bad luck charm for European clubs. Poland, France, Italy, Sweden, Croatia, Turkey, and the Netherlands did not qualify for the next European Championship.