November 30, 2022, 8:22 AM
November 30, 2022, 8:22 AM
In his five previous World Cup appearances, Morocco only went to the round of 16 in one, in Mexico-1986and on Thursday (11:00 HB) they have a great opportunity to advance again, with their duel against the already eliminated Canada in Doha.
It will be at the close of the third day of group F, where Morocco depends on itself to achieve the mission, even a draw is enough.
Reach the day of the outcome of the key with 4 pointss, in second place, tied with Croatia and ahead of Belgium (3 points) and the already doomed Canada (no points).
A victory classifies the Moroccans for the eighth, as first or second in the group. The tie serves to pass as second and a defeat forces him to depend on the result between the Belgians and the Croats, who play at the same time in the other group game.
“We haven’t won anything yet. Obviously, I am happy for this victory, but we have to recover. Canada is a very good team and to defeat them we will have to keep this combative spirit,” said the coach of the ‘Atlas Lions’, Walid Regragui, after the victory over favorite Belgium, second ranked in the FIFA ranking, in the second working day.
On the first date, Morocco had drawn goalless against Croatia of Luka Modric, the current world runner-up.
For this reason the duel against Canada, 41st in the world ranking and now without options to advance After losing in the first two rounds, it is initially presented as the most accessible in the first phase for the North African team, where the generation of Hakim Ziyech, Achraf Hakimi and company hope to emulate their predecessors from 36 years ago.
Then Morocco dominated a group in which they drew with Poland and England, before beating Portugal on the last day. In the round of 16, the Federal Republic of Germany cut him off and that round is for now the team’s all-time high in football’s top competition.
Morocco also has in Qatar one of the largest and most enthusiastic fanswhich is one more incentive for a team that was a quarterfinalist at the beginning of the year in the African Cup but that has special confidence in its current generation.
Facing them will be a Canada that is playing its second World Cup and that, despite being one of the first to be eliminated mathematically in the tournament, has given a positive image.
At times he put Belgium on the ropes, with whom he lost just 1-0 and to which he dominated the game in various phases of the match. On the second day, he went ahead with a goal from Alphonso Daviesthe first in the history of Canada in a World Cup, before the Croatian machinery began to work at full capacity (4-1).
“We have shown that we can compete against the best. I’m proud of what my boys have done. We will be disappointed, it is normal because we are competitors, but we have written a piece of the sporting history of our country,” said their coach, Englishman John Herdman.
The goal now for Canada is to leave with a victory for honor and to show the world that it is progressing ahead of the World Cup that it co-organizes in 2026 with the United States and Canada.
“We have one game left to play, against Morocco. We want a result, a victory for Canada and to show the country that we are going in the right direction for 2026,” said the coach.
