FIFA World Cup 2022: Croatia ranked 12th, 10 places ahead of Morocco.
FIFA World Cup 2018 runners-up Croatia will face Morocco in their first match on 23 November. With five consecutive wins, they are in excellent shape in the competition. Morocco, on the other hand, are currently undefeated in their last five matches and look strong too. Croatia are in 12th place, 10 places ahead of Morocco, who have participated in the last five competitions but have only progressed past the group stage once so far.
Observation
Croatia's World Cup Group F opener against the Atlas Lions will serve as an excellent barometer for their potential in the tournament. Croatia lost their opening game in three of their five World Cup matches, and were eliminated from the tournament whenever they lost their opening match. Even though they did not lose their opening match, Croatia advanced to the semi-finals.
After sweeping through their own qualifying campaign, Morocco will feel like they can ruffle some feathers. They won every game they played in the second round of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) section, scoring 20 goals and conceding just one. Then, they defeated the Democratic Republic of the Congo 5–2 on aggregate in the third and final qualifying round, becoming the only team to advance with a victory margin of more than one goal.
teams
Croatia
When Croatia take on Morocco in the opening match of the 2022 World Cup, midfielder Luka Modric will hope to add a new chapter to Croatia's World Cup legacy. Modric accepted the Golden Ball trophy in Russia as the best player of the tournament. Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic has recently been battling a knee injury and is now available, leaving the Croatian with no fresh injury concerns.
Morocco
Morocco has won matches against countries such as South Africa, Chile and Georgia. In September, the team, ranked 22nd in the FIFA world rankings, drew 0–0 with Paraguay. The team's head coach Walid Regragui will be happy with the direction his team is heading. Few changes are expected, with Sofiane Amrbat returning to the midfield. Just three months after Walid Regragui took over as head coach of Morocco in place of Vahid Halilhojic, he called up Chelsea midfielder Hakim Ziyech to the national team.
face to face
Morocco and Croatia have only played against each other once, in 1996. A penalty shootout was used to determine the winner of this semi-final game in the first edition of the Hassan II Trophy, when the match was tied 2–2 at the half. After defeating second-placed Czech Republic in the final, the Croatians defeated their hosts 7–6 in a shootout to become the first winners of the tournament.
Key Players
Although most of the focus will be on Ziyech and Achraf Hakimi, Youssef En-Nesri will be most responsible for scoring goals for Morocco. Experienced player Luka Modric is likely to play a key role for Croatia, while over the last four years, Marcelo Brozovci has established himself as one of Europe's top deep-lying playmakers.
date, time and place
Morocco vs Croatia match will be played on November 23 at 3:30 PM (Indian Time) at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor.
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