The Atlas Lions of Morocco face an arduous task on Wednesday, November 23, when they take on the Blazers of Croatia in a Group F encounter at the Al Bayt Sports Stadium in Al Khor. Croatia finished second in the 2018 World Cup in Russia and are hoping to go all out again. Morocco on the other hand failed to go past the Group stage of the 2018 edition and are looking forward to prove their mettle this time. This is going to be the sixth appearance of both teams in the history of the World Cup. Croatia was at every tournament since making their debut in 1998 with the exception of 2010 where they missed out in South Africa. Morocco on the other hand featured in the tournament for the first time in 1970 and have gone on to participate in Mexico 1986, US 1994, France 1998, Russia 2018 and now Qatar 2022. Whereas Croatia reached the semi finals in 1998 and the finals in 2018, Morocco's best was the round of 16 berth in 1986. Over the past years, Morocco have played a host of European countries at the world cup. Their most memorable games includes a famous 3-1 win over Portugal in 1986 and a 2-2 draw with the Spain in 2018. Croatia has played against African opposition just twice in the World Cup. Their first was a 3-0 win over Cameroon in Brazil 2014 and the second, a 2-0 victory over Nigeria in 2018. Current form The Croatians are on fire ahead of the World Cup. They have faced some of the top teams in the world and are unbeaten in their previous five games. They defeated world champions France, twice, beat Denmark, Austria and Saudi Arabia. Morocco The Atlas Lions have also achieved some great results though they haven't played against any big team. They drew with Paraguay, and defeated Georgia, Liberia and South Africa. Players to watch Hakim Ziyech (Morocco) He retired from the national team following a fall out with former coach Vahid Halilhodzic. He is now back to the team after the Bosnian was fired and replaced by Walid Regragui. The Chelsea winger is the most naturally gifted player in the Moroccan set up and he will be the one to carry the team on his shoulders against the fierce Croatian side. Ziyech has a total of 18 goals in 43 games since switching allegiance from Netherlands to play for Morocco in 2015. Luka Modric Modric is the leader and the live wire of the Croatian national team. He led them to the finals in Russia in 2018 where he capped it with the player of the tournament award. In the Real Madrid star, Croatia have a genius who can decide the outcome of games with just one moment of brilliance. At 37, Modric has earned 155 caps for Croatia netting 23 goals since 2006.
