Morocco and Croatia will play their first Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022 match on Wednesday. Canada and Belgium, as well as both nations, were drawn into Group F of the tournament. Despite their poor World Cup record, Morocco are a formidable opponent. In 2018, Croatia won all three games in the group, so it should be able to win in 2022.
Croatia reached the World Cup final in 2018 and will attempt to repeat that feat in Qatar in 2022. They are scheduled to play Morocco in their first Group F match on Wednesday at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor. Croatia will be considered one of the favorites to advance not only from this group but all the way to the later stages of the competition, having previously appeared in both the semifinal and final. Morocco has a chance to make up for their poor performance at the previous World Cup in Russia. The two teams are coming off impressive streaks of unbeaten play, so this will be a good group opener.
Morocco and Croatia face off in the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2022, pitting one of Africa’s underdogs against one of Europe’s. A Group of Death, as it is called, has them in it. Belgium, Canada, Morocco, and Croatia will compete for two places in the Round of 16 in Group F. Even though Morocco is still the weakest of the four opponents, African teams have a history of pulling off decent upsets at the world cup.
In addition, this will be their first meeting in a competitive or non-competitive fixture. Will Morocco’s golden generation be able to defeat this Croatian team, which will be saying goodbye to many legends at the conclusion of this tournament? The future will tell.
Morocco and Croatia are both in good form heading into their first World Cup matchup. In the most recent tournament, Morocco failed to advance beyond the group stage, while Croatia defeated France, the previous champion, to reach the final.
Wednesday’s Group F match between Morocco and Croatia will mark the beginning of the daily schedule for the 2022 World Cup national teams. Nine hours later, Belgium and Canada will meet at the Al Bayt Stadium.
In the opening match of Group F on Wednesday morning, Morocco will play Croatia, the runners-up in the 2018 World Cup. The Atlas Lions were eliminated from the group stage four and a half years ago with just one point. However, they made impressive progress through African qualifying and hope to replicate the historic team that reached the round of 16 in 1986.
There was no such thing as Croatia in its modern guise when Morocco bested a group containing Britain, Poland, and Portugal in Mexico. Since then, they have won bronze and silver on the global stage, and they are in good form to compete in Qatar.
Morocco are one of the underdogs in Africa, but they performed well in their continent’s qualifiers. During the most recent friendly games, Morocco’s defense has been strong thus far, allowing few goals.
In their last ten games, Morocco lost two times. They have performed admirably in recent matches, winning four and drawing one of their last five, including admirably against Chile and Paraguay in the most recent matches.
Morocco is in a strong position to advance to the knockout stages, particularly in light of its 2018 World Cup group stage disappointment and its four consecutive clean sheets. Before settling for a 2-1 draw with Spain in the 2018 World Cup Group Stages, the Atlas Lions lost to Iran and Portugal consecutively. At the time, it marked the end of their campaign.
Morocco, which is ranked 22 in the FIFA rankings, has long expressed their affection for Achraf Hakimi. Even though the African nation’s most famous player is still the wingback for Paris Saint-Germain, there is another player who has been steadily developing to earn a spot in the first team for Qatar 2022.
During Morocco’s AFCON 2022 campaign, which ended midway through the semi-final, forward Sofiane Boufal assisted on three goals. Boufal contributes to his team’s success with 3.2 key passes per game, 50% more than any other player’s average in 2022, in addition to scoring goals. As a result, we will need to keep an eye on Hakimi and Boufal this summer.
The Atlas Lions failed to advance beyond the group stage in 2018 and are competing in only their second World Cup since 1998.
An injury to Amine Harit in his final club game before the World Cup has ruled him out of this match, yet of the World Cup completely, with winger Anass Zaroury named as his substitution.
Amine Harit, who had no luck, suffered a cruciate ligament injury in Marseille’s final league game before the international break. Axel Disasi, a Monaco player who committed the foul, was a late addition to France’s World Cup squad after an injury gave Didier Deschamps an extra slot.
Anass Zaroury of Burnley has taken Harit’s place in Morocco’s lineup.
Even though Selim Amallah hasn’t played for Standard Liege since September, Walid Regragui was still called up. Ez Abde, a Barcelona loanee, has also been suffering from a muscular complaint, making it unclear whether he will play in the opener.
Croatia finished as runners-up in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, defeating Argentina, Denmark, and England along the way. Now under Zlatko Dalic, they want to do even better in 2022.
Modric, one of Croatia’s many players who are considered top-notch in various European leagues, is likely to execute the majority of the attacking plays.
The big question for the Croats is whether they will be able to replicate their performance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in the 2022 sporting event. During the 2018 World Cup, the Checkered Ones defeated Nigeria, Argentina, and Iceland in all three of their group-stage matches.
The Croats are anticipating another World Cup opener against an African opponent because the first two games were clean-sheet wins. Morocco, on the other hand, will be a tougher opponent than Nigeria, so Croatia must improve their offensive play to overcome Morocco’s solid backline.
This winter, Luka Modric will conclude his career on the global stage with another international campaign. As a Real Madrid player, the Croatian legend and Balon d’Or winner has one World Cup left in him because he never drops his level. Mateo Kovacic and Marcel Brozovic, his European teammates, are the two midfielders with the highest resistance to press, and it would be difficult for the Moroccan team to break their harmony.
Right-winger Mario Pasalic is another obscure name who has the potential to finally make or break their international career. Since the beginning of 2022, Pasalic has been one of Croatia’s top three outstanding scorers. Josip Sutalo, a defender, has been named Croatia’s best player in 2022 due to his 4.5 interceptions per game on average, which directly contribute to Croatia’s success.
As things stand, Croatia will play their first group game without any injuries and will be led once more by Luka Modric, who is so important to their midfield and is so old.
Croatia played Saudi Arabia in their final pre-World Cup friendly without incident. The only two of the 26-man squad that did not play in Riyadh were Kristijan Jakic and Marko Livaja, both of whom are thought to be out with injuries.
Morocco vs Croatia Head-to-Head (h2h)
This will be Morocco and Croatia’s first competitive match. This is the first time the two teams have met in this competition, so they haven’t played each other before.
The match between Morocco and Croatia will take place on November 23, 2022, at 10:00 (UK time).
ET: 5:00 AM
CT: 4:00 AM
MT: 3:00 AM
PT: 2:00 AM
Morocco vs Croatia will take place at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar.
ITV will broadcast the live game between Morocco and Croatia.
This Qatar 2022 World Cup game in the Group Stage will be available for TV and smartphones and will be broadcast in the United States by FuboTV (7-day free trial) and Peacock other options to watch the game in the US are UFORIA App, SiriusXM FC, Sling, Foxsports.com, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, Telemundo, FOX Sports App, Fox Sports 1. If you want to watch the game on your smartphone, don’t forget to download the app.
The ITV Hub allows for live streaming of Morocco vs Croatia.
A look at Morocco’s potential starting XI shows that they can get out of the group stage in 2022 with players like Hakimi, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain, and Bounou, who plays for Sevilla, and En-Nesyri, who plays for Sevilla. However, this Croatian team are a formidable force at major international competitions and has repeatedly demonstrated that they understand what it takes to win on the big stage.
With their midfield three, led by Modric, expected to control the majority of the play, Dalic’s team should be able to control possession. In light of this, Croatia ought to make enough chances to defeat Morocco, despite the fact that the margin of victory may be a narrow one.
We are certainly in for a thrilling football morning on Wednesday in Qatar, as this is one of the most exciting matches of the first round. In recent matches, Morocco and Croatia have both displayed excellent attacking form, and when they meet, we wouldn’t be surprised to see goals at either end.
At the 5.00 odds, we will therefore select Croatia to win and Both Teams to Score as our primary betting selection. We will back the Hoffenheim forward to score anytime here at the 3.50 odds after his stunning goal in the 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia last week.
While Croatia’s midfield is the envy of many, Morocco’s strength is on the flanks, primarily thanks to their flashy fullback pairing of PSG’s Achraf Hakimi and Bayern Munich’s Noussair Mazraoui.
Nevertheless, Luka Modric and co. face a Morocco team that should not be underestimated. Even though Regragui only took over in August, he has brought back important players Vahid Halilhodzic had rejected, like Hakim Ziyech of Chelsea.
Morocco and Croatia may split the spoils in this Group F opener, which may be more evenly balanced than their recent World Cup records suggest.
Croatia should be too much for Hakim Ziyech and co., despite the fact that Morocco is widely considered to be the underdog. Croatia had a successful qualifying campaign, and they typically perform well on the major stages of the World Cup and the European Championships.
Luka Modric will be eager to motivate his team to make a deep run in the tournament because he is aware that he is 37 years old and that this could be his last World Cup before retirement.
Both of these teams have great players, but the most impressive talent is on the defensive side of the ball.
Croatia will have possession of the ball, but they haven’t had many chances in recent Nations League play, and they will struggle against a well-organized Morocco backline.
The Atlas Lions, on the other hand, are poor finishers, as evidenced by their performances at the Africa Cup of Nations, in which they scored just eight goals on 11.2 xG, including the 2-1 defeat to Egypt, in which they created numerous chances but failed to score. They won’t be able to put the ball in the back of the net, even if they get a few good shouts in front of the goal.
Before the game, both teams were in decent form, and it could be an exciting contest. Despite the fact that the Europeans entered the match as favorites, Morocco has key players who can hurt them.
Luka Modric and co. will face challenges from the Atlas Lions, but Croatia’s superior quality and depth should win the game.
Walid Regragui, the head coach of the Morocco national soccer team, has named the following members of his 2022 Qatar World Cup squad:
Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou, Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti, and Munir Mohamedi.
Defenders: Achraf Hakimi, Jawad El Yamiq, Noussair Mazraoui, Achraf Dari, Romain Saiss, Yahia Attiyat Allal, Nayef Aguerd, Badr Benoun.
Midfielder: Azzedine Ounahi, Sofyan Amrabat, Selim Amallah, Abdelhamid Sabiri, Yahya Jabrane, and Bilal El Khannous.
Attacker: Hakim Ziyech, Sofiane Boufal, Zakaria Aboukhlal, Youssef En-Nesyri, Amine Harit, Ilias Chair, Abderrazak Hamdallah, Ez Abd, Walid Cheddira
Prior to the tournament in Qatar, Croatia’s head coach, Zlatko Dalic, also named his World Cup squad. Here are the players who will highlight the Checkered Ones in the greatest football event beginning on 20th November:
Goalkeepers: Dominik Livaković, Ivo Grbić, and Ivica Ivušić.
Defenders: Domagoj Vida, Borna Barišić, Dejan Lovren, Josip Juranović, Joško Gvardiol, Josip Stanišić Martin Erlić, Borna Sosa, and Josip Šutalo
Midfielders: Luka Modrić, Mateo Kovačić, Mario Pašalić, Marcelo Brozović, Nikola Vlašić, Kristijan Jakić, Lovro Majer, and Luka Sučić
Forwards: Ivan Perišić, Andrej Kramarić, Mislav Oršić, Bruno Petković, Marko Livaja, and Ante Budimir
Morocco Starting 11 (4-3-3): Bounou; Hakimi, Aguerd, Saiss, Mazraoui; Amallah, Amrabat, Ounahi; Ziyech, En-Nesyri, Boufal.
Bench: Mohamedi, Tagnaouti, El Yamiq, Dari, Benoun, Attiyat Allah, Zaroury, Chair, Aboukhlal, El Khannous, Jabrane, Hamdallah, Sabiri, Abde, Cheddira.
Croatia Starting 11 (4-3-3): Livakovic; Juranovic, Sutalo, Gvardiol, Sosa; Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic; Vlasic, Kramaric, Perisic.
Bench: Grbic, Ivusic, Stanisic, Barisic, Erlic, Lovren, Vida, Majer, Pasalic, Sucic, Jakic, Livaja, Petkovic, Budimir, Orsic.
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