2022 FIFA World Cup
Saturday 10th December 2022
Kick off at 3pm GMT
Venue: Al Thumama Stadium
Match Preview:
Morocco will be aiming to become the first African side to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup but they will surely have an uphill task against the talented Portuguese. Many have been in praise of how Morocco have got this far in the competition and they deserve a lot of credit but at the same time if we look at the 8 teams that are left they will be the outsiders to win it.
Morocco manager Walid Regragui has moulded a national side much like their predecessors but with one glaring difference, they defend better. This team never give up too and while they are happy to concede possession, they don’t take their chances on goal lightly. Against Spain in the round of 16 Spain had more than 70% possession and yet only had one shot on target compared to Morocco who had 3. Their football isn’t the prettiest on the eye, one can be reminded of the Greece side who won Euro 2004, but like the Greeks they are intelligent, solid and can make you pay if you don’t score early against them which is what the Spanish team found out. That game went to penalties in the end but you got the sense that the favourites at that time were Morocco given how poor Spain have performed in penalty shoot outs in the past.
Even though Cristiano Ronaldo hasn’t made an impact in this World Cup so far the news coming out of the team has mostly been about the former Manchester United player. Manager Fernando Santos dropped Ronaldo to the bench for the round of 16 tie against Switzerland and it didn't come back to haunt him. Portugal’s up and coming players put in a very good performance, playing some beautiful football. Portugal went on to win 6-1 in stunning fashion and to rub salt into the wounds Ronaldo's replacement scored a hat-trick. Goncalo Ramos at 21 may well still light up this tournament and the Benfica forward will surely be remembered anyway as being the player who benched Ronaldo and tore the Swiss apart.
Team News:
Morocco: Nayef Aguerd hasn’t been ruled out even though he looked to have sustained a bad injury against Spain. He will be assessed at least. Romain Saiss will be assessed with a muscle injury but is being tipped to be fine.
Portugal: The team has no new injury concerns ahead of this game.
Morocco vs Portugal Head to Head:
The teams have only played each other twice and both times have been in the World Cup.
In Mexico 86 Morocco beat Portugal 3-1 and in Russia 2018 Portugal won 1-0 - the goalscorer that day was Cristiano Ronaldo.
Morocco vs Portugal Prediction:
Morocco are going to set up for defence and they will be hoping that Nayef Aguerd recovers from injury as he has been an integral part of the backline. Achraf Hakimi is one of the best defenders in world football and he will be very recognisable to neutrals as he plays for PSG and not only can he defend but he also has the ability to come forward and score goals himself. But we do expect to see the ball in Morocco’s penalty area for much of the time as the African side try to absorb the game and frustrate the Portuguese. Portugal will have to respect their opponents who have already kept clean sheets against Belgium, Croatia and Spain and have only conceded once so far against Canada of all sides although the game was won by then and was just a consolation goal for them.
It seems very likely that Ronaldo will be on the bench again and there is no reason that Santos won’t play Ramos up front given how spectacular he was against the Swiss. With attacking quality in their ranks in the form of Joao Felix and Bruno Fernandes with a bench also strong in depth Portugal will fancy their chances here. We expect to see a low scoring first half but the game should open up in the second and this could be another match that witnesses extra time but with the attacking flair that Portugal has we will be backing them to make the semi-finals within the 90mins.
Morocco vs Portugal Betting Tips:
Portugal to beat Morocco at 1.73
Anytime goalscorer: Bruno Fernandes at 4.00
Anytime goalscorer: Goncalo Ramos at 2.50
Highest Scoring Half: 2nd half at 2.10
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