On November 23, at 11:00 a.m. CST, Morocco will play a challenging opponent at Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar (1oam UK time). Since this would be both teams’ debut game, some rust is expected. The odds-on favourite to win Group F is Croatia, which lost to France (4-2) at the 2018 World Cup Finals.
Morocco met the Democratic Republic of the Congo in a two-legged play-off, winning 5-2 on aggregate, they went to the World Cup. Croatia placed first in a group featuring Russia, Slovakia, and Slovenia. During that time, Croatia only gave up four goals while scoring 21.
Only one previous meeting between these two clubs occurred in 1996. That contest was a 2-2 draw. The Vatreni are the clear favourites to win this match, and the Moroccans will likely try for an interest. But since they have nothing to lose, anticipate an aggressive, offensive start from the Moroccan team.
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Croatia Football Team Preview
At the World Cup in Qatar, Croatia is placed in Group F. Belgium, Canada, Morocco, and Croatia make up this group. Croatia will find it difficult to advance from this group, given that Belgium is now rated second in the FIFA World Rankings, followed by Morocco at 22 and Canada at 41. But Croatia will feel confident that they can advance to the knockout rounds because they are rated number 12.
Following a terrific qualifying campaign and an equally excellent Nations League, Croatia will likewise be full of confidence. Along with Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, and Malta, they were in Group H for the World Cup Qualifiers, winning the group with 23 out of 30 points. They were in League A of the Nations League, competing in a highly challenging group alongside Denmark, France, and Austria. Nevertheless, they prevailed, earning 13 possible 18 points, including an impressive 1-0 victory over France in June, secured by Croatia’s national hero and captain Luka Modric’s penalty conversion.
Croatia Squad for FIFA World Cup 2022
Role | Players |
Goalkeeper | Dominik Livakovic, Ivo Grbic, Simon Sluga |
Defenders | Josip Stanisic, Borna Barisic, Duje Caleta-Car, Dejan Lovren, Borna Sosa, Josko Gvardiol, Domagoj Vida, Josip Juranovic, Marin Pongracic. |
Midfielders | Lovro Majer, Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic, Nikola Vlasic, Mario Pasalic, Kristijan Jakic, Luka Ivanusec. |
Forwards | Ivan Perisic, Josip Brekalo, Andrej Kramaric, Marko Livaja, Bruno Petkovic, Mislav Orsic. |
Captain | Luka Modric |
Morocco Football Team Preview
Following the conclusion of Morocco’s warm-up matches with a scoreless draw against Paraguay in Spain, all attention is now focused on the World Cup.
To have a chance of leaving Group G, Morocco will have to get past tournament heavyweights Croatia and Belgium, who finished second and third in Russia in 2018.
The team enters the competition with a world ranking of 22, making them the second-best African team after Senegal, which is ranked 18th and will compete in Group A of the Qatar 2022 event.
In August, just three months before the tournament began, the firing of Morocco’s head coach, Vahid Halilhodzic, will have affected preparations for better or worse. Player relations issues and a disastrous AFCON run in 2021, which saw Morocco ousted in the quarterfinals against Egypt, were reasons for Halilhodzic’s departure from the team.
Halilhodzic has experienced a similar pre-World Cup situation three times before: in 2010, less than four months before South Africa, he was fired as Ivory Coast’s head coach, and in 2018, after successfully guiding all three nations through tournament qualifying, he was replaced as Japan’s head coach. Walid Regragui, a former national team member who led Wydad AC to victory in the African Champions League in May 2022, has taken Halilhodzic’s post.
Morocco Squad for FIFA World Cup 2022
Role | Players |
Goalkeeper | Yassine Bounou, Mounir Mohammadi, Ahmed Reda Teknaouti. |
Defenders | Ashraf Hakimi, Roman Sais, Jawad Yamiq, Sami Mai, Sofiane Chakla, Nayef Akrad, Sufian Allakush, Yahya Attia Allah, Adam Massina. |
Midfielders | Sofiane Amrabet, Faysal Fajr, Yahya Jebran, Imran Louzah, Salim Amlah, Ezzedine Unahi, Elias Shire. |
Forwards | Mounir El Haddadi, Sofiane Boufal, Abdel Samad El Zalzouli, Ryan May, Ayoub El Kaabi, Youssef El Nassiri, Tarek Tisoudali. |
Captain | Romain Saïss |
How to Watch World Cup in Croatia?
The main public broadcaster in Croatia, HRT (Croatian Radiotelevision), runs a number of radio and television networks. It was developed by the Croatian Republic, and the Croatian government is the rightful owner. Both the radio and television divisions were founded in 1920 and 1950, respectively. It has three national and seven regional radio stations, along with two terrestrial TV networks and one satellite TV channel.
How to watch World Cup in Morocco?
Morocco-based public broadcaster Société Nationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision (SNRT) has obtained the green light for broadcasting rights for 22 matches at the 2022 World Cup, as per a tweet by Arryadia TV and as reported by Morocco World News.
The initiative comes as the state-owned television network concluded an agreement with beIN Sports North Africa and the Middle East, which holds the rights to broadcast the competition in the region.
Group F FIFA World cup Fixtures
Date | Match | Stadium |
Wed, Nov. 23 | Al Bayt | |
Wed, Nov. 23 | Belgium vs. Canada | Ahmad Bin Ali |
Sun, Nov. 27 | Belgium vs. Morocco | Al Thumama |
Sun, Nov. 27 | Croatia vs. Canada | Khalifa Int’l |
Thurs, Dec. 1 | Croatia vs. Belgium | Ahmad Bin Ali |
Thurs, Dec. 1 | Al Thumama |
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