Match Details:
Date: 23 November 2022
Time: 3:30 PM IST
Venue: Al Bayt Stadium
Live Commentary: SportsTiger App
Preview:
Morocco and Croatia will start the World Cup proceeding for Group F at the Al Bayt Stadium. In this marquee tournament, Group F is one of the toughest pools of teams where every team can beat each other on a given day. The last World Cup's finalist Croatia will be giving it all for their leader Luka Modric, who will be playing in this tournament one last time. Whereas for Morocco, the North African would want to pull off some major upsets and find a way to get to the Round of 16.
Team news:
Morocco:
Amine Harit sustained a knee injury during a Ligue 1 match against AS Monaco which ruled him out of the FIFA World Cup. Anass Zaroury joined the squad as a replacement. Ez Abde also remains a doubtful starter.
Croatia:
There are no injury concerns for Croatia.
Analysis:
Morocco suffered a group-stage knockout in Russia in 2018 as they only managed to register one point. However, they have incredibly improved and cruised their way through the qualifiers to make it to Qatar. They have some world-class players and hence would like to capitalise on their strengths and push for the Round of 16 stage.
Whereas Croatia has several players from the 2018 World Cup squad which reached the final. Similarly, they have once again emerged as dark horse contenders for this year’s title. The team is built around Luka Modric, who has been a top-class player in the world for the last five years. With Modric pulling the strings on the field, Croatia would hope for another deep miracle run in the tournament.
Key Players:
Head-to-head:
Probable Starting XIs:
Morocco:
Yassine Bounou (GK); Achraf Hakimi, Nayef Aguerd, Romain Saiss (C), Noussair Mazraoui; Selim Amallah, Sofyan Amrabat, Azzedine Ounahi; Hakim Ziyech, Youssef En-Nesyri, Sofiane Boufal.
Croatia:
Dominik Livakovic (GK); Josip Juranovic, Josip Sutalo, Josko Gvardiol, Borna Sosa; Luka Modric (C), Marcelo Brozovic, Mateo Kovacic; Nikola Vlasic, Andrej Kramaric, Ivan Perisic
Grand League team:
Head-to-head team:
Best 14:
Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou, Dominik Livakovic
Defenders: Achraf Hakimi, Noussair Mazrao, Josko Gvardiol, Borna Sosa, Romain Saiss
Midfielders: Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic, Hakim Ziyech, Sofiane Boufal, Mateo Kovacic
Strikers: Andrej Kramaric, Youssef En-Nesyri
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the author’s point of view. They neither reflect the opinion of SportsTiger nor advise anyone to make any prediction ba sed on this. SportsTiger does not assume any responsibility and liability for the same.
