World Cup Knockout Stage. Day 18 By Greenpredict

World Cup Knockout Stage will feature Morocco against Spain in what is expected to be a thrilling match. Morrocco is the only Africans left at the world Cup and will do everything possible to stay competitive.

You may want to check the Spain vs Morocco line up

Later tonight by 8:00pm, we shall also see Portugal take on Switzerland for the quarter final ticket. This match is hard to predict as well.

World Cup Knockout Stage. Day 18

You can view my previous predictions here. You can also check the scores of this match as it is played live here

Bet of the day

Morocco vs Spain

Morocco qualified for the knockout round after winning Group F, resisted Croatia, and dispatching Belgium and Canada.

Match Facts

• In their last four World Cup games, Morocco hasn’t suffered a defeat, scoring twice in three of those contests.
• At the 2018 World Cup, Morocco suffered its most recent 90-minute defeat in a competitive match.
• Spain’s final two group games were draws with Germany and defeats to Japan.
• En-Nesyri scored in the interesting 2-2 draw between these two teams that occurred in Russia years ago.

Match Preview

After three outstanding performances, Morocco was able to win Group F, but their reward for that improbable triumph is that they will face Spain in the following round. The Spanish dropped to third after losing their final match to Japan, and some have speculated that they were eliminated to avoid playing Brazil in the quarterfinals.

In spite of their 2-1 loss, Spain still held 82.3% of the ball and made 969 complete passes, both World Cup records for a losing side. They’ll probably control the ball again in this match, but will they be able to win and kick off their campaign in Qatar?

Morocco is motivated to cause an upset.

Following a 2-2 tie in the 2018 group stages, this will be Morocco and Spain’s second World Cup encounter. In that match, Morocco twice took the lead before tying 2-2; Spain needed a late equalizer from Iago Aspas to escape falling short. That must instill some confidence in Morocco going into the encounter on Tuesday.

This draw is a part of Morocco’s World Cup winning streak of four games, during which time they have not lost and have scored twice in three of those games. Additionally, they have an eight-game winning streak under their belt. Their most recent 90-minute loss in competition came against Portugal in a 1-0 loss at the 2018 World Cup.

In the 2018 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco lost to Egypt in overtime; in the 2019 edition, they lost on penalties. This team has experience from having gone through that run, which has helped them do well at this World Cup with Qatar’s enthusiastic support.

Morocco shouldn’t be underestimated

Spain has struggled after a 7-0 victory in their tournament debut, whereas Morocco has improved throughout the competition. They were only able to draw with a German team that was already at home, and the defeat by Japan didn’t appear to be on purpose. With their strong defensive set-up, Morocco should be able to cause issues for the Spanish.

Prior to defeating the top-ranked European team at the competition, Morocco managed to hold off Croatia, the runners-up from last year. Although Spain is considered the favorite based on reputation, this Moroccan team appears to be the genuine deal, and I don’t see them leaving the field before at least 90 minutes.

Given that Spain has scored in 24 straight games, they will be difficult to contain, but Morocco should be able to keep up given their recent scoring rate. I predict an exciting 2-2 draw, with both teams scoring being a great alternative given the attacking threat on both sides.

World Cup Knockout Stage, Day 15 (2 days ago) was superb.