Spain vs Morocco 26/06/18

26 June 2018

One of the principal candidates to lift the World Cup trophy, and the prime favorite to top Group B, Spain, will be playing against Morocco at the Kaliningrad Stadium, looking for a victory that will secure them a place among the best sixteen teams at the final tournament. The Red Fury suffered a lot in the first two group stage matches, drawing 3-3 with Portugal, and barely managing to defeat Iran, thanks to a lucky goal scored by Diego Costa in the second half. Therefore, Fernando Hierro, who took charge of the national team a few days before the World Cup kick-off, will seek for a convincing performance from his players to boost squad morale ahead of the knockout stage. On the other hand, the Atlas Lions were the first nation to lose any chances of advancing to the round of 16 following two consecutive defeats, to Iran and Portugal, both by an identical 1-0 score. However, Hervé Renard’s team showed some lovely attacking movements in those matches, which is why this game should be anything but simple for Spain.

Thiago Alcantara and Marco Asensio who both saw a very few minutes on the field so far might join the starting eleven, replacing Iniesta and Lucas Vasquez. As for Morocco, Schalke prodigy, Amine Harit, could return to the first team after skipping the game against Portugal.