Belgium vs. Morocco: Sunday at lunchtime, Belgium’s second group game is against Morocco.
Roberto Martinez said, “Canada was better than us,” after seeing Belgium beat the spirited Canucks by a 1-0. In Morocco, the Red Devils will play another well-trained team that wants to upset the odds.
After a tough 0-0 tie, Croatia’s coach, Zlatko Dalic, said that the North African team was “extremely well prepared and brave.” Walid Regragui was proud
that his team “played like a European team.” This weekend, he will be going after the best team in Europe.
Here’s what you need to know about a matchup that looks interesting.
Where is Belgium vs. Morocco playing?
- Location: Doha, Qatar
- Stadium: Al Thumama Stadium
- Date: Sunday 27 November
- Kick-off Time: 13:00 GMT / 08:00 ET / 05:00 PT
Belgium vs. Morocco H2H Results (All-Time)
- Belgium: 2 Wins
- Morocco: 1 Win
- Draws: 0
Current Form (Last Five Games)
- Belgium: WWLLW
- Morocco: WWDWD
Team news from Belgium
Romelu Lukaku watched Belgium’s first game from the stands. His face showed a lot of pain, which may have had more to do with what was happening on the field than with the muscle injury that kept him out.
The Inter striker is back to training, and his manager says he may be ready for the final group game against Croatia. But Martinez said, “If I go by how the player feels, there’s probably a chance we could have him back for the second match [against Morocco].”
Martinez wants to go far in this competition, so he might not play the country’s all-time leading scorer before he is fully healthy.
Belgium’s lineup against Morocco was predicted.
Belgium Starting 11 (3-4-2-1): Courtois; Dendoncker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen; Meunier, Witsel, Tielemans, Castagne; De Bruyne, E Hazard; Batshuayi.
Bench: Mignolet, Casteels, Theate, Faes, Debast, T Hazard, Onana, Vanaken, Carrasco, Mertens, Trossard, De Ketelaere, Openda, Doku, Lukaku.
Team news from Morocco
After landing hard on his hip an hour into Morocco’s tie with Croatia, Noussair Mazraoui had to be taken off on a stretcher. Even though he probably won’t be better by Sunday, early reports suggest the damage isn’t as bad as first thought.
Morocco’s lineup against Belgium was predicted.
Starting with 11 (4-3-3): Bounou; Hakimi, Aguerd, Saiss, Allah; Ounahi, Amrabat, Amallah; Ziyech, En-Nesyri, Boufal.
Bench: Munir, Tagnaouti, El Yamiq, Dari, Benoun, Jabrane, Sabiri, Chair, El Khannouss, Zaroury, Abde, Aboukhlal, Hamdallah, Cheddira.
Belgium vs. Morocco score prediction
Belgium has won its last eight World Cup group-stage games, the same number of wins in a row as Brazil. They hadn’t lost before the knockout round since 1994 when they lost to Saudi Arabia.
Even though the number two player in the world had to work hard to win, Martinez was quick to point out a well-known piece of football wisdom after the game. “It’s a lot to build on when a team can win a game without playing well.”
That might not be a good reason during a league season, but in a football tournament, points are more important than performance. It’s unclear if Belgium can do better than they did against Canada, but they might win another game even if they don’t.
I think Belgium will beat Morocco 2-1.
