Belgium – Morocco

Belgium and Morocco to play open football

Belgium will play against Morocco in the second match of the group stage on Sunday, 27 November. "The Devils were regarded as one of the tournament's shadow favourites, but were hugely disappointing in their game against Canada. Martinez's side won the game thanks to some phenomenal luck, strange refereeing and a heroic performance by Thibaut Courtois. The Belgian showed why he is the best goalkeeper in the world. Courtois repelled an eleven-metre shot and several dangerous shots. The quality of play in attack was abysmal. The only goal came from a long-range cross from a central defender. A big disappointment was the performance of Eden Hazard. He doesn't look ready for the World Cup. The return of Romelu Lukaku could be a big help for Belgium. Batshuayi has scored, but is still significantly behind the top scorer in history in all components. Canada created chances for 2-3 goals, according to the advanced statistics model. The match turned out to be an anomaly in many ways. With this quality of play, it will also be very difficult against Morocco. The African team performed well against Croatia. Ziesch, En-Nesiri, Boufal - the team have picked a very bright and technically equipped attacking line. All players easily beat one-on-one and combine. On the flank, Ashraf Hakimi is excellent on attack. Morocco also have a very strong goalkeeper, Bunu, who plays for Sevilla. Against Croatia, the goalkeeper made some outstanding saves. The defence did not let them down, allowing relatively few chances at their goal. There is no doubt that in terms of the overall selection of players the national team is inferior to the Belgians. At the same time, the African team can safely count on points. Belgium showed in their first game at the tournament that their defeat to Egypt in their last friendly before the World Cup was no fluke. Roberto Martinez will likely see a restructuring of their attacking line-up. For example, Trossard could come on in place of Hazard, with Lukaku moving to the centre of attack. If Canada have created a huge number of chances, Morocco are unlikely to be without scoring chances. Playing for a draw makes no tournament sense for the African team. Relatively open football is more likely. The Belgians will want to show that their attack is alive and well. With Lukaku also increasing the likelihood of more goals. De Bruyne will find it much easier to find partners in attack. Morocco will need to play for a win in the last round anyway to make the play-offs.