As the final stage of the World Cup is coming closer, there are still some Qualifiers that are to be played, especially in Africa. There is a huge battle to be played in Group C, where Ivory Coast will play host to Morocco on Saturday, November 11th. Morocco are sitting at the top of the group, and they can even qualify with a draw here. Ivory Coast know that they will need a strong performance at home, as anything other than a win would leave them eliminated.
Morocco (2-0-3) were held to a couple of goal-less draws against Gabon and Ivory Coast in their first two matches. However, they possess an elite defense that has yet to concede a single goal after 5 matches. Morocco are now sitting at the top of Group C with 9 points, having scored 9 goals against none conceded. Even a draw here would be enough to grant them qualification to the World Cup. Morocco’s elite defense is lead by Juventus’ Benatia, while Real Madrid’s wonderkid Hakimi and Fenerbahce’s Dirar are some of the quality players they have. Moreover, they have Galatasaray’s Belhanda, Southampton’s Boufal, amd Feyenoord’s El Ahmadi.
On the other hand, Ivory Coast (2-1-2) started off with a nice 3-1 win over Mali, only to be held to a goal-less draw against Morocco in the 2nd Match-day. They did destroy Gabon by 3-0 on the road before that 2-1 reverse at home against the same team, before a goal-less draw against Mali in their most recent match. They are now sitting at the 2nd spot of Group C with 8 points, one point behind Morocco. They only need a win here, as any other result would leave them eliminated. They do have a couple of good players in their roster, like Swansea’s Bony, Manchester United’s Bailly, Watford’s Dja Djedje, Tottenham’s Aurier, Milan’s Kessie and Crystal Palace’s Zaha.