Morocco and Scotland will face off this Friday in Boston in the second match of a Group C that has turned out to be more wide-open than expected—a group in which Brazil struggled against Morocco, while Scotland, the leader with three points, has a chance to advance to the knockout stage for the first time in its history.
“We’re ambitious and we play good soccer,” said Moroccan coach Mohamed Ouahbi when asked by EFE after the North African team earned a well-deserved 1-1 draw against Brazil.
The Atlas Lions Are Looking to Score Another World Cup Goal
The Moroccan team’s strong performance against Brazil came as no surprise.
The Atlas Lions are the African champions—by default—and the defending semifinalists in the tournament.
At Qatar 2022, they won the “Group of Death”—which included Belgium, Croatia, and Canada—finishing undefeated with seven points.
Brazil left doubts against Morocco
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Against Scotland, Morocco will look to pave its way to the knockout rounds, fueled by its star players.
Like Bono, Brahim Díaz, captain Achraf Hakimi, and Ismael Saibari—the player who just scored against Brazil and was born in the Catalan town of Terrassa.
In that match against the Canarinha, Morocco became the first team in World Cup history to field a starting lineup of eleven players born in foreign countries.
Spread across Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Canada.
Scotland Dreams of a Historic Qualification
The Scots, back at the World Cup 28 years later, are aiming for nothing less than qualifying for the World Cup knockout stage for the first time in their history.
Scotland heads into its match against Morocco as the leader of Group C without making much of a splash.
The ones who have really been making some noise are their tireless fans, the “Tartan Army,” who have flooded the streets and bars of Boston.
Taking advantage of the fact that the Scots haven’t had to travel from Massachusetts during the first two days.
And they even took over the Red Sox’s baseball stadium (Fenway Park) in one of the funniest moments of this World Cup.
The team, coached by Steve Clark and led on the field by Scott McTominay, did, however, put in a decent performance against Haiti in its first World Cup victory in 36 years.
Scotland will look to improve its performance in a match against Morocco that promises to be crucial in providing an early glimpse of where Group C—which is still wide open—is headed.
The only previous match between Morocco and Scotland took place in the group stage of France 1998, when Morocco won 3-0, but both teams were eliminated at that stage.
Probable lineups
Scotland: Angus Gunn; Aaron Hickey, Grant Hanley, Jack Hendry, Andy Robertson; Ben Gannon-Doak, Scott McTominay, Lewis Ferguson, John McGinn; Lawrence Shankland and Ché Adams.
Head Coach: Steve Clarke.
Morocco: Yassine Bounou “Bono”; Achraf Hakimi, Issa Diop, Chadi Riad, Noussair Mazraoui; Neil El Aynaoui, Ayyoub Bouaddi; Brahim Díaz, Azzedine Ounahi, Bilal El Khannouss, and Ismael Saibari.
Coach: Mohamed Ouahbi.
Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (UZB).
Stadium: Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Massachusetts).
Time: 6:00 p.m. local time (10:00 p.m. GMT).
With information from EFE
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