2018 World Cup finalist, Croatia will open their campaign at this edition of the mundial with Morocco in a Group F game at the Al Bayt Stadium.
Morocco have failed to qualify for the World Cup on four of their five attempts, their only appearance coming in Russia in 2018.
Although just one point was collected from three group matches, the African nation performed better than their record suggests, only going down 1-0 to Portugal and being denied a famous win over Spain by an injury-time equaliser.
Since that early exit, Morocco have under-performed at the Africa Cup of Nations, posting last 16 and quarter-final finishes, but they head into this competition on a five-match unbeaten streak.
Victories have been posted against the likes of South Africa, Chile and Georgia, while they also collected a goalless draw against Paraguay in September.
With the nation now ranked 22nd in the FIFA World Rankings, head coach Walid Regragui will be delighted with the trajectory of his team, feeling that Belgium and Croatia should not necessarily expect to qualify for the knockout stages.
Zlatko Dalic's side recently won four successive UEFA Nations League fixtures, a run which included an away victory over France, to top a group which also included Denmark and Austria.
Since losing 5-3 to Spain at Euro 2020, Croatia have lost just once in 16 games, a defeat that they avenged by prevailing 3-1 in Austria in their most recent competitive outing.
The Checkered Ones warmed up for this tournament by beating Saudi Arabia by a 1-0 scoreline last Wednesday, Andrej Kramaric netting the only goal of the game eight minutes from time
PROBABLE XI
Morocco probable XI
Bono; Hakimi, Saiss, Aguerd, Mazraoui; Ounahi, Amrabat, Amallah; Ziyech, En-Nesyri, Boufal
Croatia probable lineup:
Livakovic; Stanisic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Barisic; Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic; Vlasic, Petkovic, Perisic
KICKOFF TIME
The game is scheduled for 10:00am
TV CHANNELS
SuperSport, beIN SPORTS, BT Sports, SkySports, ORTB, DStv Now, GOTV.
