Who : Croatia vs Morocco , Group F
Where : Al Bayt Stadium — Al-Khor, Qatar
When : Wednesday, November 23 at 5am ET
Ranking : Croatia (12), Morocco (22)
Head to Head : 1 : Croatia won
Best Bet : Croatia to win & under 2.5 goals
Croatia will begin their Qatar World cup campaign with a Group F match against Morocco.
Morocco have qualified for the World Cup for the second time in a row, though their 2018 campaign ended in the group stage. on the otherhand, Croatia are the runners-up from the previous edition.
while Croatia ranked no.12 are the clear favorites to advance to the next round. On the other hand, Morocco who are ranked no. 22 in the FIFA world rankings, are longshots to even advance to the knockout round.
Preview :
Croatia’s World Cup Group F opening against the Atlas Lions will give a good indication as to how far they can go in the tournament. whenever, Croatia lost their Opening match at the world cup on those occasions, they failed to get out of the group.
Meanwhile, Croatia have lost their opening game in three of it five world cup appearances. In the two exceptions, Whenever they didn’t lose the opening match, Croatia reached the semi-finals. However, Morocco will believe they can cause an upset to the opponent after winning their own qualifications campaign. They won all six games in the second round of the CAF section, scoring 20 and conceding just once. Then, they smashed the Democratic Republic of the Congo 5-2 overall in the third and final qualifying round.
Head to Head :
This is the Second time the two sides are facing each other at an international level.
Before that Morocco and Croatia have played against each other only once, in 1996.
A penalty shootout was used to determine the winner after the match was tied 2-2
The Croatians won over the Moroccans 7-6 in the shootout.
Key Players to Watch :
Morocco: Youssef En-Nesyri
Croatia: Marcelo Brozović
The match will witness a clash of some star players including Luka Modric and Hakim Ziyech.
Though, most of the 2018 squad is no longer in the picture, but Croatia still has formidable side
and their strength lies in their midfield trio of Modric-Kovacic-Brozovic.
If they get up to their usual self, then the opposition will have to worry a lot.
The Moroccan team is a talented side too. Hakim Ziyech’s return to the national team is a big boost for them.
Their fullback duo of Achraf Hakimi and Noussair Mazraoui is a world-class pairing and
their offensive and defensive work rate will be a big boost for the Atlas lions.
Predictions :
While Morocco certainly have players capable of troubling Croatia,
but Croatia is the clear favorite to win this clash.
Croatia should win 2-1 against the African team.
Live Streaming :
5am ET on Fox for English, Telemundo for Spanish, FUBO Tv, fox sports app, FS1 and Telemundo
Live stream: FUBO TV (Try for free)