Morocco vs Croatia Prediction: 2022 World Cup Odds
The Blazers enjoyed a march to World Cup championship showdown with France four years ago, but fell short of glory in a 4-2 loss. Morocco ride a five-match win streak across all competitions into their fifth straight World Cup appearance, and have kept clean sheets in four straight outings, capped by Thursday’s win over Georgia to wrap up their pre-tournament friendly schedule.
Perched at No. 12 in the FIFA men’s rankings heading into Qatar 2022, Croatia lead the way as +115 favourites in this Group F matchup. Morocco as +307 underdogs, while the odds of this contest ending in a draw sit at +230. Low scoring is expected, with the odds of the total going UNDER 2.5 listed at -185.
Morocco vs. Croatia Betting Analysis
Wednesday morning’s matchup at Al Bayt Stadium marks just the second all-time meeting between these national squads. Croatia eked out a win on penalties in their lone previous meeting in a 1996 friendly. Croatia enter the tournament on a steady pace, with wins in their past five. Four of those victories have come in UEFA Nations League action, including a 1-0 win over France five months ago. The Blazers have kept clean sheets on three occasions during the streak, and potted multiple goals twice. The 22nd-ranked team in the world, Morocco was a dominant force during qualifying, and have lost just twice in their past 20 non-friendlies. However, success has eluded them at the World Cup, posting just win in 10 matches since 1986.
Morocco
The Atlas Lions have been hit by some bad news in the days leading up to Wednesday’s tournament opener, with reports indicating Amine Harit suffered a serious knee injury in what was supposed to be his final Ligue 1 outing with Marseille before joining the team in Qatar. The talented midfielder has made 16 appearances with the national team, and has one goal in six UEFA Champions League appearances with Marseille. Ayoub El Kaabi led the squad with five goals in qualifying, but was left off the final roster heading to Qatar. He is joined on the sidelines by Ryan Mmaee, who finished second in goalscoring with four markers, raising some concerns as to who will doing the scoring. Accordingly, the Atlas Lions have tumbled to the bottom of the odds to finish atop the Group F table as +1000 longshots, and a distant +12100 bet on the World Cup championship futures.
Croatia
All eyes will be on Luka Modric when the Blazers hit the pitch for Wednesday’s contest. The 37-year-old returns to the big stage quite likely for the last time looking to take this squad to the next level after earning World Cup Golden Ball honours for leading the Blazers to the 2018 final. Modric has remained productive, scoring twice during the latest round of Nations League action, and three times during qualifying. However, he lags as a +6300 bet to once again take home the Golden Ball. Modric leads a talented Croatian squad that featured Tottenham Hotspur workhorse Ivan Perisic, who tallied three goals during qualifying, while Dominik Livakovic returns to the Croatia net, where he has not led the squad to defeat since Euro 2020.
World Cup Prediction: Who Will Win Morocco vs. Croatia
Croatia 3, Morocco 1