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Aiming to put at least one foot in the knockout stages, Belgium continue their pursuit of a first World Cup on Sunday, when they meet Group F rivals Morocco at Al Thumama Stadium.

After edging out Canada in their opening match, the Red Devils will now seek to tame the Atlas Lions, who held Croatia to a goalless draw.

Match preview

Having qualified with relative ease, averaging over three goals per game in the process, Belgium kicked off their latest quest for an elusive major trophy on Wednesday evening, as they tackled a nation who had been absent from the World Cup finals for nearly four decades.

Group F outsiders Canada actually thrived on their return to the global stage throughout the first half of the teams’ encounter in Al Rayyan and saw an early penalty saved by Thibaut Courtois, but Michy Batshuayi’s 44th-minute goal ultimately decided the three points’ destiny.

Only starting in place of injured talisman Romelu Lukaku, the Fenerbahce striker secured an all-important opening day win, as several stars including playmaker Kevin De Bruyne – who bizarrely received the official ‘Man of the Match’ award – endured an off night.

With Croatia and Morocco playing out a goalless draw earlier in the day, Belgium therefore sit at the top of their group ahead of Sunday’s second game but will surely need to step their efforts up a notch when facing more challenging opposition.

It is likely that Batshuayi will still shoulder the burden up front for an ageing ‘Golden Generation’, and his level of success in deputising for the Red Devils’ all-time top scorer – Lukaku having scored 68 goals from 102 international appearances and five in 10 World Cup matches – could prove crucial to their hopes in Qatar.

In what may be the last roll of the dice for coach Roberto Martinez, the Belgians still have ambitions to improve on their third-place finish in 2018 but must first take care of business against a country they defeated 1-0 in the only previous World Cup meeting between the two, at USA ’94.

Morocco living dangerously against Croatia in their World Cup fixture on November 23, 2022.© Reuters

While Belgium have now won each of their last eight group stage games at the finals, Morocco have found the going far tougher down the years, so their first-day draw with 2018 runners-up Croatia was celebrated as something of a victory.

Lauded for a solid defensive display after the teams’ contest in Al Khor, the Atlas Lions remain in the mix for last-16 qualification, which represents an acceptable state of affairs, as they have failed to even qualify for the World Cup in four of their last five attempts and took just one point from a tough group four years ago.

Current coach Walid Regragui has already admitted his side are unfancied to reach the knockout stages, given the pedigree of their European counterparts in Group F, but they more than matched their first opponents at Al Fayt Stadium on Wednesday. While Morocco have now failed to score in over half their World Cup matches – nine out of 17 to date – holding Croatia goalless represents a good day’s work.

Following defeat to Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals last year, former boss Vahid Halilhodzic – who had dropped Hakim Ziyech and Noussair Mazraoui due to disagreements – departed, but replacement Regragui stepped into the dugout and reintegrated both back into the squad.

After a positive start in Qatar, the former manager of Qatari club Al-Duhail now leads his nation into another fixture from which they would surely accept a single point, before tackling a potentially decisive clash with Canada four days later.

Enjoying the noisy backing of Moroccan fans drawn direct from North Africa and a large expat community based in the Middle East, they should at least take on Belgium amid a partisan atmosphere in Doha.

Team News

Though Roberto Martinez has already declared his hope that star striker Romelu Lukaku will be available this weekend, Belgium’s leading scorer is facing a race against time to be involved. The 29-year-old has been mostly sidelined since the end of August with a hamstring injury and may not be fit enough even for a place on the bench until the final group game against Croatia.

In Lukaku’s absence, Michy Batshuayi is favourite to deputise up front again, having both scored the only goal last time out and established an impressive international record to date.

Lois Openda, of Ligue 1 club Lens, offers another option during the second half, while Leandro Trossard made a cameo against Canada and has been in excellent form for Brighton & Hove Albion. The latter will find it tough to displace captain Eden Hazard, however.

Martinez is expected to retain the formation which he deployed on Wednesday, but Thomas Meunier and Amadou Onana are in contention for promotion to the starting lineup at wing-back and in central midfield respectively.

Meanwhile, Morocco’s midfield fulcrum Sofyan Amrabat will play again but carries a booking over from the Croatia game, as Walid Regragui names a similar XI to that which kicked off the tournament.

Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou should therefore line up behind Achraf Hakimi, Romain Saiss and Nayef Aguerd at the back, and Bayern Munich full-back Noussair Mazraoui is likely to join them, despite being stretchered off in midweek.

Though the former Ajax man landed heavily on his side, it is believed he sustained only a minor muscular injury; Yahia Attiyat-Allah stands ready if required.

Belgium possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Dendoncker; Meunier, Onana, Witsel, Carrasco; De Bruyne, E. Hazard; Batshuayi

Morocco possible starting lineup:
Bounou; Hakimi, Aguerd, Saiss, Mazraoui; Ounahi, Amrabat, Amallah; Ziyech, En-Nesyri, Boufal

Japan will be looking to build on their incredible victory over Germany when they continue their Group E campaign against Costa Rica on Sunday.

Hajime Moriyasu’s side started their 2022 World Cup with a 2-1 win over four-time world champions Germany on Wednesday, while Costa Rica suffered a 7-0 defeat to Spain in their tournament opener.

Match preview

Japan fell behind against Germany on Wednesday, with Ilkay Gundogan scoring from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute, but two substitutes turned it around for Moriyasu’s team, with Ritsu Doan levelling the scores in the 75th minute before Takuma Asano won it with a brilliant finish in the 83rd minute.

Samurai Blue have now put themselves in a strong position to reach the next round of the competition, and they have previous when it comes to advancing through the group stage.

Indeed, Japan have progressed to the round of 16 on three previous occasions, including back in 2018, when they finished second in Group H before losing to Belgium in the first knockout round.

Moriyasu’s side will finish their campaign against Spain on December 1, so there is no downplaying the importance of this match, especially as Costa Rica will enter it off the back of a thumping loss to Spain.

Japan progressed to the finals of the 2022 World Cup by finishing second in Group B, picking up 22 points from their 10 matches, which left them one point behind the leaders Saudi Arabia in the Asian qualification section.

Costa Rica have faced Japan on five previous occasions in international football, with all five fixtures proving to be non-competitive games, and Japan have recorded four wins, including a 3-0 success in September 2018.

Los Ticos are competing in the finals of the World Cup for the third time in a row, and they incredibly reached the quarter-finals of the 2014 competition, topping Group D ahead of Uruguay, Italy and England before overcoming Greece on penalties in the first knockout round.

Costa Rica saw their tournament ended by the Netherlands in the last eight, but it was a brilliant performance from the Selection, who beat New Zealand in the intercontinental playoffs back in June to ensure that they would be present in the 2022 edition of the competition.

Luis Fernando Suarez’s side were the final team to advance to the World Cup, but they suffered a 7-0 defeat to Spain in their competition opener on Wednesday.

Ferran Torres scored twice, while Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio, Gavi, Carlos Soler and Alvaro Morata were all on the scoresheet for La Roja in Doha, with Costa Rica struggling against Luis Enrique’s side.

La Tricolor will take on Germany in their final match in the section on December 1, and it is difficult to imagine them making an impression in this group, but they will be determined to give their supporters something to cheer against Japan.

Team News

Hiroki Sakai is a doubt for Japan due to the injury that he picked up against Germany, and he was forced to miss training on Thursday with the issue.

Takehiro Tomiyasu would be Sakai’s natural replacement, although the Arsenal defender also missed training on Thursday, so he will need to prove his fitness over the next 24 hours or so.

Asano came off the bench to score the winner against Germany, and he could now come into the starting side for this match, potentially taking the place of Daizen Maeda.

Yuto Nagatomo was also replaced in the second half of the team’s first match of the tournament, but the 36-year-old is fit to start this game, and he should again line up at left-back.

Costa Rica, meanwhile, have not reported any injury concerns from their defeat to Spain.

Head coach Suarez is expected to resist the temptation to shuffle his pack from the loss to La Roja, but there could be a change at the back, with Kendall Waston potentially coming in for Carlos Martinez.

Bryan Ruiz and Alvaro Zamora are also among those pushing for spots in the side, but Joel Campbell should again be joined by Anthony Contreras in the final third of the field, and there is no question that the manager will be looking for a much-improved performance in this contest.

Japan possible starting lineup:
Gonda; Tomiyasu, Itakura, Yoshida, Nagatomo; Endo, Tanaka; Ito, Kamada, Kubo; Asano

Costa Rica possible starting lineup:
Navas; Waston, Calvo, Duarte, Oviedo; Tejeda, Borges; Bennette, Fuller; Campbell, Contreras

English referee Anthony Taylor has been appointed as Centre Referee for Ghana’s second Group H game against South Korea on Monday.

The 44-year-old who has been officiating FIFA matches since 2013, will be assisted by Beswick Gary (Assistant I), Nunn Adam (Assistant II), Ortega Kevin (Fourth referee) while Sanchez Cabera Jesus Martin from Peru serves as the Reserve Assistant Referee.

Other Officials for the day include:

Vigliano Mauro Vido – Video Assistant Referee – Peru

Gonzalez Leodan – Assistant VAR – Argentina

Chade Gabriel – Offside VAR – Uruguay

Basunan Julio – Support VAR – Argentina

Bonda Diego – Standby VAR

The match is scheduled for the Education City stadium on Monday, November 28, 2022 at 16:00 QT (13:00 GMT).

Lionel Messi kept his dream of winning his first World Cup alive by rifling in the opening goal in Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Mexico in World Cup Group C, proving he was far from done in the tournament.

The Argentine, competing in his fifth World Cup at age 35, has won every other major title in his career but has failed to lift the coveted trophy despite making the final in 2014.

But his 64th minute strike that was followed by substitute Enzo Fernandez’s sublime effort three minutes from time, reignited their hopes of advancing past the group stage after their shock 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia in their opener.

Messi, who equalled Diego Maradona’s Argentina record of 21 matches and eight goals at the World Cup, was nowhere to be seen for more than an hour before picking up an Angel Di Maria pass, finding just enough space and rifling in from 20 metres.

Substitute Fernandez made sure of the victory when he curled a superb shot into the top corner.

Argentina, on three points, can guarantee progress with a win over Poland, top on four, in their final game on Wednesday.

“Today starts another World Cup for Argentina,” Messi said. “I tell people the same thing, that they continue to believe. Today we did what we had to do.

“We had no other choice. We had to win so that we depended only on ourselves.

“The first half we didn’t play as we should and in the second, when we calmed down, we started to play the ball better and until the goal we went back to being what we are,” he said.

Mexico, who have now lost all four World Cup clashes with Argentina, have one point and must beat Saudi Arabia, on three, to have any chance of continuing their run of making the last 16 in the last seven World Cups, but even that might not be enough.

HIGH TENSION

With the prospect of an Argentina elimination, tensions were high on and off the ball in a scrappy first half but with the two sets of fans creating an electric atmosphere in the stadium.

Neither team wanted to commit too many players forward and apart from a free kick by Mexico’s Luis Chavez in the ninth minute that sailed past the goalmouth there were few chances.

Mexico’s high pressing game stifled most of their opponents’ attack and Messi struggled to find any space to manoeuvre in a congested midfield.

Apart from a Lautaro Martinez effort that was well off the mark and another from Messi, Argentina were toothless up front.

But in a major blow to Mexico, skipper Andres Guardado, a veteran of five World Cups who until then had been a commanding presence in midfield, had to be taken off injured in the 42nd.

The Mexicans still carved out two more chances with Alexis Vega before the break but the tables would turn in the second half.

The South Americans looked more determined after the break and their captain and talisman dragged them out of trouble with his second goal of the tournament.

The stadium erupted in cheers once more with Fernandez’s late strike which sealed Argentina’s first win in the tournament and rekindled Messi’s hopes of a first ever World Cup title that would match that of the late Maradona from 1986.

©Reuters

Black Stars have stepped up their preparations for their 2022 World Cup Group H second game against South Korea on Monday.

The training was intense on Saturday, with numerous health clashes between players. Everyone brought his A-game to Saturday’s practice, which left coach Otto Addo pleased.

Black Stars will face South Korea in their second group game on Monday.

Watch Full Video Here…

Source:Richard Obeng Bediako

Kylian Mbappe scored twice for France as the defending champions laid down a marker by beating Denmark to become the first team into the World Cup knockout stage.

The 23-year-old forward, France’s youngest scorer in the competition, stole the show once again with second-half strikes to take his side through.

Mbappe had earlier blazed over from 12 yards and forced Kasper Schmeichel into a save with a rising shot.

But the Paris St-Germain star broke the deadlock just past the hour mark, exchanging a fine one-two with Theo Hernandez before stroking in.

Denmark equalised just seven minutes later with their first effort on target as defender Andreas Christensen headed home at the far post after France failed to clear a corner.

Christensen, though, may have counted himself lucky to still be on the pitch at that point after receiving only a yellow card on 20 minutes for dragging back Mbappe, who was looking to run clear.

France keeper Hugo Lloris made a sharp stop to keep out Tottenham team-mate Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s first-time shot while Martin Braithwaite agonisingly fired into the side netting.

But with four minutes left, Mbappe had the final say, sneaking in at the far post to convert Antoine Griezmann’s cross.

©BBC

Manchester United legend, Roy Keane believes Arsenal midfielder, Thomas Partey lacks the ‘leadership skills’ to galvanise Ghana at the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Partey has established himself as one of Arsenal’s key players this season.

The 29-year-old has started 11 of Arsenal’s 14 league matches, helping the Gunners surge to the top of the Premier League with five points ahead of second-position Manchester City

But he was unable to cause an upset for Portugal as Ghana lost 3-2 in their World Cup opener against the European giants on Thursday.

Before the match, Kane questioned Partey’s leadership skills.

“Well, he is having a very good season,” Keane told ITV Sport.

“He has settled down, he had a lot of injury problems when he first went to Arsenal.

“He has got a big role here because there are some inexperienced players around him [in the Blacks Stars squad]. I am still not convinced he’s got those leadership skills, but he’s a very good player, he’ll have a big part to play as he’s got a big responsibility in the middle of the park. He should be confident, and it will be challenge for him to help the players around him.”

Click on any of the links below to watch the game.

Kickoff is at 16:00 GMT [4PM]

English Stream Links

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LINEUPS

?? France XI: Lloris; Koundé, Varane, Upamecano, Theo Hernández; Tchouaméni, Rabiot; Dembélé, Griezmann, Mbappé; Giroud

?? Denmark XI: Schmeichel; Andersen, Nelsson, Christensen; Kristensen, Hojbjerg, Eriksen, Maehle; Lindstrom, Cornelius, Damsgaard

Poland bolstered their chances on Saturday of reaching the World Cup’s last 16 for the first time since 1986 after goals from Piotr Zielinski and Robert Lewandowski killed Saudi Arabia’s efforts to advance a game early.

Zielinski scored after 39 minutes against the run of play and Lewandowski put the match beyond Saudi Arabia eight minutes from time, while goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny’s stunning double save from a penalty in first half stoppage time kept Poland in the match against a Saudi side that was always on the attack.

AL RAYYAN, Qatar, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Poland bolstered their chances on Saturday of reaching the World Cup’s last 16 for the first time since 1986 after goals from Piotr Zielinski and Robert Lewandowski killed Saudi Arabia’s efforts to advance a game early.

Zielinski scored after 39 minutes against the run of play and Lewandowski put the match beyond Saudi Arabia eight minutes from time, while goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny’s stunning double save from a penalty in first half stoppage time kept Poland in the match against a Saudi side that was always on the attack.Advertisement · Scroll to continue

The result leaves Poland needing only a point from their final Group C match against Argentina to guarantee their spot in the next round.

Saudi Arabia were the better team for the first half and had the advantage of a few favoruable refereeing decisions but will rue the missed penalty from Salem Al-Dawsari, who scored the winner in their historic victory over Argentina on Tuesday.

©Reuters