MOROCCO VS IRAN
From the African Continent, Morocco is playing Iran from Asia at Krestovsky Stadium for the World Cup in Russia 2018.
This will be the third time we’ve seen Morocco play in the World Cup since 1998. This season so far they have been annihilating the pitch in the Friendlies, African Nations Championship and the World Cup Qualifiers Africa. They’ve not lost one game in the last ten they’ve played.
HERVE RENARD
French football manager Herve Renard has been the coach for Morroco’s national team since 2016. He won the African Cup Of Nations back in 2012 with the Zambian National Team. In 2015 he won the African Cup Of Nations with the Ivory Coast. This made Renard the first coach to ever win two Africa Cup of Nations with two different countries.
HAKIM ZIYECH
Hakim Ziyech has been becoming an increasingly important player in the Midfield for Morroco. The Former Netherlands Under-21 international is strong and talented. At just 25 years old, he has 13 caps and seven goals to his name.
MBARK BOUSSOUFA
Boussoufa from the Netherlands is the main man of the midfield and is seen as one of Morocco’s most important players alongside with Benatia. He has played for Morocco for over a decade, with five years experience playing in Russian conditions from his time with Anzhi Makhachkala and Lokomotiv Moscow.
MUNIR MOHAMEDI
In the final round for qualifying Spanish born Munir Mohamedi didn’t even concede 1 goal out of the 6 games. This is why he is the instant go-to choice to be Morocco’s goalkeeper for the World Cup.
Iran
Iran has 4 appearances in the World Cup meaning this will be the fifth time we’ve seen them play in the Tournament. After an almost flawless performance qualifying for the World Cup, Iran now faces their route to round 16 of group b being blocked by defending European champion Portugal and 2010 World Cup Winner Spain in group B. They qualified for the Cup after Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Taremi scored each against Uzbekistan in July 2017.
CARLOS QUEIROZ
With Iran Qualifying for Russia 2018 Queiroz has not got 3 teams through four World Cup qualification campaigns. Carlos has been taking team Iran since to new heights since 2011, the team he has produced is well-organised and disciplined with a strong attack. His experience coaching Real Madrid and Portugal has definitely incorporated into Iran.
SARDAR AZMOUN is the Iranians’ star man, the 23-year-old Rubin forward is the man who is looked upon to add the much-needed quality in the final third. He is also already accustomed to the World Cup hosts conditions after spending the last five years playing in Russia, impressing recently at Rostov.
ALIREZA BEIRANVAND is likely to be in net for Iran in Russia. At 6-foot-4 Beiranvand is physically a giant and a fine shot-blocker known for his distribution, with his especially long throws. For Iranian club Persepolis, Beiranvand. One potential issue is that understudies do not have much international experience.
PREDICTED LINE-UP
SPORTS OF THE DAYS VERDICT
Both teams have been on superb form recently, it could be a very close game although we feel Morroco may have a better chance for Morroco at victory
WHO DO YOU THINK WILL WIN?
Google’s win probability is at 41% for Morocco to win the game. The chances of Iran winning is just 28%, with a 31% probability of it being a draw. For Morocco coming out 1-0 the odds are 5/1, for them coming out 2-0 the odds are 17/2 and for 2-1 the odds are 9/1. For Iran to win 1-0 the odds are 13/2, to win 2-0 the odds are 14/1 and for 2-1 the odds are 12/1. If you’d like to see more odds for the game click here