Morocco vs Croatia preview – Group F kicks off
The first game of Group F kicks off with an intriguing tie between Morocco and Croatia.
Morocco
The African Cup of nations quarter-finalists Morocco enters their sixth World Cup. They will look to equal and improve on their best performance at the tournament having topped their group back in 1986, making them the first African side to do so.
The North African side was awe-inspiring in the qualifying stages, topping their group with six wins from six. They then went on to face D.R. Congo in the final stage of qualifying where they beat them 5-2 on aggregate.
It’s difficult to tell which formation Morocco will settle on. In the game against D.R. Congo, they opted for a 5-3-2, but in recent times they’ve played both a 3-4-3, a 4-1-4-1 and a 4-3-3.
Morocco has a couple of key players to look out for. The first is Achraf Hakimi. The PSG full-back is considered one of the best in the world in his position. He is both defensively and offensively excellent, having received 4.86 progressive passes per 90 putting him in the top 1% for all full-backs in the top five European teams.
In the forward department, Morocco will rely a lot on Hakim Zyiech to create chances. Whilst he hasn’t had a lot of opportunities to start at Chelsea over the last 18 months, that doesn’t mean he’s failed to make an impact when he has played. He averaged 6.89 crosses per 90 last season, putting him in the top 3% of attacking midfielders in the top five European leagues.
Croatia
They play 2018 World cup finalist Croatia who will be looking to go one step better this time around.
Croatia come into this game in good form after topping Nations League Group 1 which involved both Denmark and France. They also finished top of their World Cup qualifying group only losing one game.
They will go into this tournament playing their tried and trusted 4-3-3 formation and hold one of the best midfield trios in the tournament.
One of those players is 2018 Ballon D’or winner Luka Modric. The Real Madrid midfielder has averaged 67.35 completed passes per 90 in the league this season. This puts him in the top 2% of midfielders for this statistic.
Another key player for the Croatian national team is Mateo Kovacic. The Chelsea midfielder has averaged 7.09 progressive passes per 90 in the league this season. This puts him in the top 1% for the statistic for midfielders in the top five European teams.
This could be the key game in Group F with Belgium expected to finish top. Whilst Canada is playing in only their second-ever World Cup, the first being in 1986.
