One of the biggest games in the CAF world cup qualifiers comes this weekend as first-placed Morocco travels to Abidjan to face the Ivorians who are second-placed. The two teams are separated by a point and hence the winner of this match will book a place in the world cup.
A group stage exit at the African Cup of Nations signalled their fall from grace earlier in the year and it was Morocco who knocked them out of that competition with a 1-0 win. It’s now just 3 wins from 12 matches for Ivory Coast and they were surprisingly beaten 2-1 by Gabon in their last home qualifier.
They will have to be positive here given a draw is no good to them but to make it to Russia they will have to do something no side in this group has done, and that is to score against Morocco. The North Africans have kept five straight clean sheets in this group and they’ve displayed at times that they do offer a threat at the other end. They beat Mali 6-0 in September and were impressive 3-1 friendly winners against South Korea last month.
Ivory Coast will have to be adventurous, so Morocco should have chances on the break but won’t take any unnecessary risks given they only need a point. 9 of Morocco’s last 14 away World Cup qualifiers have ended in draws and with Ivory Coast looking unconvincing, backing the Draw could be worth a bet here.
Ivory Coast Last 6 Matches
06.10.2017 FIFA WCQL Mali 0-0 Ivory Coast
05.09.2017 FIFA WCQL Ivory Coast 1-2 Gabon
02.09.2017 FIFA WCQL Gabon 0-3 Ivory Coast
10.06.2017 CAF NCQ Ivory Coast 2-3 Guinea
04.06.2017 INT FRL Holland 5-0 Ivory Coast
31.05.2017 INT FRL Ivory Coast 1-1 Benin
Morocco Last 6 Matches
10.10.2017 INT FRL South Korea 1-3 Morocco
07.10.2017 FIFA WCQL Morocco 3-0 Gabon
05.09.2017 FIFA WCQL Mali 0-0 Morocco
01.09.2017 FIFA WCQL Morocco 6-0 Mali
10.06.2017 CAF NCQ Cameroon 1-0 Morocco
02.06.2017 INT FRL Rwanda 2-0 Morocco
Morocco vs Ivory Coast HEAD TO HEAD
24.01.2017 NC Morocco 1-0 Ivory Coast
12.11.2016 WCQL Morocco 0-0 Ivory Coast
09.10.2015 FRL Morocco 0-1 Ivory Coast
07.09.2013 WCQL Ivory Coast 1-1 Morocco
09.06.2012 WCQL Morocco 2-2 Ivory Coast
21.01.2006 NC Morocco 0-1 Ivory Coast
Morocco vs Ivory Coast Final Qualifiers
Round: 6
Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny
29°C
Referee: Bakary Gassama
Group C
Home match
0 : 0 Away game score