Spain’s morale may have been shaken by a shocking loss to Japan in their last group-stage game. But, La Roja are aware that they haven’t been able to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since FIFA 2010, when they won the competition. On the other side, Morocco have performed better than anticipated thus far at the FIFA World Cup 2022 and won their group. Only the second time in history, they are appearing in the round of 16.
Overview
Group F topper Morocco will clash with Spain, the runners-up of Group E. It was shocking for Spain to finish second in their group. But, Japan had a dream run in the group stages and defeated Germany and Spain to finish on top. However, now that Japan’s world cup campaign has ended with a defeat against Croatia in penalty shoot-outs, Spain would like to take the Group E flag ahead. In a group that had Belgium, the North Africans emerged as the toppers by being undefeated (two wins and one draw)
Teams
Morocco
Morocco will be desperate to continue their fairytale 2022 journey, especially as they have never previously reached the quarterfinal. The only other African team that got into the Round of 16, Senegal, have been crushed by England 3-0. So, now, the Atlas Lions want to better their world cup records. Their best so far came in 1986 when their campaign ended in the Round of 16. Walid Regragui’s boys also look to break the record of highest number of consecutive wins at the world cup by any African nation. At present, Cameroon hold the record (five times) while Morocco stand as a close second (four).
Spain
Some may view Spain coming in second place as a gift in disguise given that they would have faced Croatia in the round of 16, but Spain are fully aware of how challenging this game would be. Spain was ousted from the FIFA World Cup 2018 in the round of 16, but Luis Enrique is aware of this. Spain have never experienced back-to-back eliminations at this level of the championship, and their nine goals in the group stage were a joint-highest total with England.
Head-to-Head
Spain have won two matches out of three played against Morocco while the other ended in a draw. Spain scored six goals in those matches but conceded four as well. The previous encounter between the two groups occurred during the FIFA 2018 group stages and resulted in a 2-2 draw.
Key Players
Spanish forward Ferran Torres and Morocco’s Youssef En-Nesyri, who has already scored once in FIFA 2022, will be the ones to watch out for.
Date, Time & Venue
The Morocco vs Spain match will be played on December 6 at 08:30 PM (Indian time) in the Education City Stadium, Ar Rayyan.
Live-streaming Details
The Morocco vs Spain match will be broadcast live on the Sports18 and Sports18 HD TV channels in India and Jio Cinema’s app and website will both offer free live streaming of the event.
Prediction
It will be a high-scoring match that will go in Spain’s way. The European team will win it 4-2.
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