Canada hope to exit the 2022 World Cup in style when they face Morocco in their final Group F game on Thursday, December 1.
The match will be played at Al-Thumama Stadium in Doha.
Raphael Claus will referee the match. This will be the Brazilian’s second game at the tournament after being in charge of England6-2 victory against Iran in the first round of matches.
What time is Canada vs Morocco?
The match kicks off at 6pm local time, which means it will start at 3pm in the UK and coverage will be shown on the BBC.
In the US, FS1 and Telemundo will broadcast the match and kickoff will be at 10:00 a.m. EST and 7:00 a.m. PT. Canadian broadcasters showing the game include CTV, TSN and RDS.
Morocco works on Western European Summer Time (WEST), so kick-off will be at 4 p.m.
Team News
Unfortunately for John Herdman, very little rests on his team selection in this one. He has a choice of a fully fit squad, but he can choose to make some changes, bringing in fringe players for the regular starters who have played in both games so far.
Atiba Hutchinson could be one of the victims of this scenario at the ripe old age of 39.
It’s less simple for Walid Regragui because he has some injury concerns to take into account. Yassine Bounou came out for the national anthem in Morocco’s last game, but it was Munir Mohamed who ended up keeping a clean sheet against Belgium as the first-choice goalkeeper felt dizzy, according to his manager.
There are question marks over the fitness of the full-back pair Ashraf Hakimi and Noussair Mazraoui. The former was taken off at the start of the last game but he should be fit for the last game of the group stage.
Planned compositions
Canada (3-4-3): Borjan, Johnston, Vitoria, Miller; Laryea, Koné, Eustaquio, Davies; Buchanan, David, Hoilett.
Morocco (4-3-3): Bounou, Hakimi, Aguerd, Saiss, Mazraoui; Amrabat, Amallah, Ounahi; Ziyech, En-Nesyri, Boufal.
The story so far
Canada really should not be in a position where it is already out of world Cup before the last group game. Admittedly, they were totally dominated by Croatia in their last game, but they were brilliant against Belgium and came away empty-handed from a game they should have won.
When Alphonse Davies scored in less than two minutes in the last game, a nation began to dream of a World Cup victory, but they were quickly brought down to earth as they conceded four unanswered goals, collapsing in the process .
Meanwhile, Morocco have put themselves in an excellent position to qualify for the round of 16. A tight and cautious draw with Croatia was followed by a brilliant 2-0 victory against a deeply disappointing Belgian side.
If Regragui’s side make it out of Group F, it will only be the second time in their history that they have reached the round of 16. The only other time was in 1986.
There was a famous win for Morocco last time out (Photo: Pablo Morano/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
Players with yellow cards
Canada:Alfonso Davies, Alistair Johnston, Tajon Buchanan, Kamal Miller.
Morocco: Sofiane Amrabat, Abdelhamid Sabiri.
What’s at stake?
Very different things for both sides.
Canada, already eliminated, play only for pride because they cannot escape from Group F in the final match.
Morocco, on the other hand, will book their place in the round of 16 with a win or a draw in this game. There are actually several ways to get out of it if they lose.
A Croatia win against Belgium would send Morocco out regardless of their outcome. If Croatia and Belgium draw, Morocco is only entitled to a losing margin of two goals.
They can finish top of Group F by improving Croatia’s result or overturning the goal difference deficit.
Prediction
Morocco beats Canada.
Canada winner: 34%. Victory for Morocco: 38%. Circulation: 28%.
All of our World Cup 2022 predictions are powered by Nielsen’s Gracenote, which used a proprietary football ranking system to estimate the odds of different outcomes for each possible game through extensive simulations, to assess each team’s chances to reach different stages of the tournament.
Wider reading
With Canada’s World Cup campaign ended prematurely, attention has already turned to upcoming tournaments, including the 2026 World Cup hosted in North America. Meanwhile, West HamNayaf Aguerd stood out for Morocco.
Follow the latest Qatar World Cup news, analysis, tables, fixtures and more here.
(Top photo: Getty Images)
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