Halilhodzic on Morocco’s World Cup Draw: Difficult but Not Impossible

Vahid Halilhodzic, the head coach of Morocco’s national football team, has reacted to the 2022 World Cup draw by stating that the Moroccan Atlas Lions can impress at the upcoming World Cup despite having to play grueling games against tough opponents in the highly-anticipated competition.

Speaking to the Qatari sports channel beIN Sports, Halilhodzic noted that the draw has placed Morocco’s national team in a tough group against highly competitive teams.

“It is a very difficult draw with the World Cup runners-up, Belgium third of the World Cup, and the best team in North America,” the Bosnian coach stated.

He further noted that Morocco’s Atlas Lions need to be fully prepared and focused to face off star-studded Belgium, Croatia, and Canada by November.

But the Moroccan coach made sure to insist that his team does have the potential to make it out of its tough group. While the Moroccan team’s upcoming journey at the world’s most prestigious football tournament will surely be difficult, it will not be impossible, he said.

The Franco-Bosnian coach made a reference to his remarkable participation in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil as head coach of Algeria’s football team.

“In Brazil, with Algeria, we almost performed a huge achievement against Germany, so I will try to do the same thing with Morocco,” Halilhodzic recalled.

Yesterday’s World Cup final draw placed Morocco’s national team in Group F alongside Belgium, Croatia, and Canada.

As was the case at the 2018 World Cup, where Morocco was placed in what some called the “group of death” alongside Portugal and Spain, the Atlas Lions (the world’s 24th best team in the current FIFA rankings) have to be at their absolute best in all their three group games to qualify to the next stage of this year’s tournament.

Morocco’s games against Croatia (the world’s number 16) and Canada (ranked 38th worldwide) are widely expected to be the most playable games for the Atlas Lions. Halilhodzic’s squad’s toughest game is expected to be against Belgium, currently ranked second worldwide.

Morocco’s football team’s opening game will be against Croatia on November 23 at 8:00 p.m. (GMT) at the Al Bayt Stadium in Doha.

The second game will see Morocco face Belgium on November 27 at 11:00 a.m. (GMT) at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, and the third game against Canada is scheduled to take place on December 1 at 8:00 p.m. (GMT) at the Al Bayt Stadium.

Morocco’s squad is the second best team in Africa, behind Senegal’s Teranga Lions.

But the Moroccan team’s unbeaten run in the World Cup qualifiers and its recent history of playing world-class football against top-tier opponents remain the main source of hope for most Moroccan fans as their national team vies to further cement their presence on world football’s biggest stage.