Morocco vs Spain prediction: WORLD: World Cup – Play Offs betting tips on match 2022-12-05 15:00.
After Morocco ended 36 years of World Cup disappointment by finally progressing to a knockout phase of the tournament, manager Walid Regragui has challenged his players to âaim for the skyâ and dream of lifting the famous trophy, and why not?! Thanks to a strong showing in Group F which resulted in Morocco topping the group, Regraguiâs side are now unbeaten in their last four World Cup (W2, D2) matches and could become the first African nation since Cameroon in 1990 to go five straight games undefeated at the World Cup finals.
Moroccoâs success so far has been built on their robust defence which conceded just one goal across the group stage, a record no side in the competition could better ahead of the knockouts. That extended Moroccoâs record of keeping a clean sheet in six of their last seven matches, which perhaps gives them a platform to spring another upset against Spain.
Having already beaten FIFAâs #2 ranked side Belgium, Morocco likely wonât fear seventh-placed Spain here, although Luis Enriqueâs Spanish side can at least boast avoiding defeat in each of the three previous H2H meetings between these two sides (W2, D1). Albeit the most recent meeting at the Russia World Cup in 2018 ended 2-2, with a last-minute equaliser in the group stage contest sparing Spainâs blushes.
Spain went on to be eliminated at the last-16 stage by Russia in that tournament, and have not actually progressed into the quarter-finals since 2010 – the year they claimed their only World Cup crown! Perhaps that gives Spain a greater incentive here to chase what could be a good omen, and youâd have to expect theyâll take another step on the road to a potential World Cup crown given theyâve gone undefeated in four of their previous five World Cup matches against African nations (W3, D1).
Players to watch: Morocco forward Youssef En-Nesyri is looking to become the first-ever player from his nation to score three goals at a single World Cup, while of the players who have already scored three or more World Cup goals in Qatar, only Marcus Rashford can better Ălvaro Morata's minute-to-goal ratio (minutes per goal: 42) for Spain.
Hot stat: Spain have found the back of the net inside 15 minutes in three of their last four matches.
World Cup trivia: Spainâs only defeat to an African nation at the World Cup came via a 3-2 loss to Nigeria in 1998, with current manager Luis Enrique starting for Spain in that game.