Shaky Belgium face resolute Morocco

Belgium managed to come out of their opening match of the World Cup with a 1-0 win over Canada, but they were shaken by the North Americans as the world’s second-best side according to the FIFA rankings looked all over the place and probably wouldn’t have gotten a point if Thibaut Courtois did not save that penalty from Alphonso Davies.

On the other hand, Morocco provided a solid display against last edition’s runners-up Croatia and came out with a 0-0 draw, and they will definitely look for a win against a Belgian side that has looked vulnerable.

For Belgium, this is the last World Cup of their golden generation, which included the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Jan Vertonghen, and Toby Alderweireld. This is their last shot at finding ultimate glory, and they did not get off to a good start.

Their formation of 3-4-2-1 looked dysfunctional against an energetic Canada, and they will expect to face more of that against Morocco.

And thus, ahead of the game, their start midfielder De Bruyne asked for more bravery from the team.

“We can show more bravery, be better on the ball, and overall improve our performance, and individually it’s the same,” he said in a press conference.

“I was on the level that the team was playing at, I was below average, I expect myself to be way better than that. That’s what I’m going to try and do in the next game,” he added.

Belgium are still without their star striker Romelu Lukaku, who is recovering from a thigh injury.

De Bruyne said that the Inter striker’s return would hand them a boost.

“Romelu’s return will not change the way we play, but of course, he is a top striker. Romelu has not played for a long time now, but even if he can only have a few minutes, defensively they will be more scared. He gives us a lot more options. His return will be a boost,” the midfielder said.

Morocco will be eyeing that aged Belgian defence and will look to find goals, something they failed to do against Croatia.

They have Hakim Ziyech, Sofiane Boufal, Achraf Hakimi, and Abde Ezzalzouli on the wings to deliver that service, and will hope that Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri to finish them off.

The Moroccans will also hope that they produce a similar defensive performance that brought them a clean sheet in the opening match.

They have some worries in the defence as Noussair Mazraoui, who is playing as their left-back, went off with an injury in the last game. With that in mind, they will be hoping for another good performance from Hakimi, who was their best player in the last match.