2018 World Cup finalists Croatia begin their campaign in Qatar with a Group F clash against Morocco on Thursday. While the North Africans have the quality to make things interesting, Croatia come into this tournament in good form and should have the edge here.
Morocco are generally considered one of the best teams out of Africa but have mostly flattered to deceive in recent times. They failed to make it out of the Group in Russia 2018 and crashed out in the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations back in February.
The North Africans are heading to Qatar in good form as they are unbeaten in their last five matches across all competitions. They claimed a 3-0 victory over Georgia in their final warm up game before the tournament with Youssef En-Nesyri, Hakim Ziyech and Sofiane Boufal getting the goals.
While Morocco will be aiming to carry their good form into Qatar, they have a generally poor record at the World Cup in recent times. Vahid Halilhodzic’s men have failed to progress beyond the group stage since 1986 and did not win a single game last time out in Russia.
Croatia were the surprise team at the 2018 World Cup in Russia as they took the tournament by storm and progressed all the way to the final. Once again led by Ballon d'Or winner Luka Modric, they will be targeting a similar performance in Qatar.
While not on the level of Germany or France, Croatia have a solid history at the FIFA World Cup. They have claimed third and second place finishes at the tournament and will hope to at least progress to the knockout stage this year.
Croatia arrive in Qatar in good form having reached the last four of the UEFA Nations League back in September. Zlatko Dalic’s men are currently on a five-match winning run and claimed a 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in their final warm up game before the World Cup.
How the bookies view it
Croatia have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at 11/10 by 10bet to claim the win. A victory for Morocco is valued at 3/1 with bet365 while a draw is set at odds of 9/4 by Paddy Power.
Head to head
The only previous meeting between Morocco and Croatia was a friendly way back in 1996 which ended in a 2-2 draw.
Players to watch
With the creativity of Hakim Ziyech and Sofiane Boufal behind him, Youssef En-Nesyri could be worth keeping an eye on for Morocco. The striker has three goals in his last five international appearances and is priced at 4/1 by William Hill to get on the score sheet on Wednesday.
Andrej Kramaric often features in attack for Croatia and will be the one to watch on Wednesday. The forward scored the only goal in the win over Saudi Arabia and could be backed to find the net once again at 5/2 with William Hill.
Anything else catch the eye?
Morocco and Croatia have the quality to easily find their way to goal and both teams could be backed to score at 11/10 with bet365. Over 2.5 goals can be considered at 19/13 by SBK while over 3.5 goals is valued at 4/1 by BetVictor.
Croatia have opened the scoring in their last five matches and could be tipped to grab the first goal on Wednesday at 4/5 with Coral.
This World Cup match between Morocco and Croatia will be played on Nov 23, 2022 and kick off at 10:00. Check below for our tipsters best Morocco vs Croatia prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
