Mateo Kovacic & Hakim Ziyech teased by Chelsea players ahead of World Cup

Mateo Kovacic has revealed that he and Hakim Ziyech were teased by their Chelsea colleagues ahead of the World Cup, who stated the pair would both be first back to Stamford Bridge from Qatar.

Ziyech was instrumental as Morocco defied all expectations to reach the World Cup semi-final, while Kovacic's Croatia continued as underdogs to also reach the final four on the other side of the bracket.

Both nations were ultimately dumped out as a France vs Argentina final was set up, but very few expected them to go quite as far as they did. Morocco were obvious underdogs, while many viewed Croatia as a declining side after finishing runners up in 2018.

The two sides will face off on Saturday in the World Cup third place play-off, and Kovacic spoke highly of Morocco in a press conference ahead of the game: “I am very glad Morocco made it this far, they are a great team.

“I have been in touch with Ziyech before and during this World Cup," He added, explaining that the pair had been the butt of the joke at Chelsea.

“All of the others joked that Ziyech and me would come home first... and here we are almost at the end of the World Cup. Both of us are very proud of what our national teams have achieved."

The Atlas Lions became the first African side ever to reach the semi-final of a World Cup by beating Portugal 1-0 in the last eight. Ziyech starred despite being out of favour at Chelsea, leading the line formidably and bagging a goal and an assist in the group stages.

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