On Saturday evening, Ivory Coast host Morocco in Group D of the African section of World Cup qualifying.
The situation is simple for the home side they have to win this clash to make it to Russia 2018. The Elephants widely regarded as one of the best teams on the continent are currently a point behind the visitors who occupy the one automatic qualification spot in the group.
Ivory Coast have enjoyed a decent qualification campaign and have suffered just one defeat from their last 28 World Cup qualifiers. However, the one defeat, a shock 2-1 home defeat against Gabon could well prove fatal in their attempts at securing top-spot and with it their place in Russia.
Last time out the home side drew 0-0 with Mali, a result that may come back to haunt Marc Wilmots’ team in the final reckoning.
The aforementioned defeat against Gabon ended a 12-game unbeaten run on home soil in World Cup qualifiers for the African giants. During that undefeated run, Ivory Coast recorded 11 wins and conceded just three goals.
Morocco may sit top of the group, but their recent form has not been great. In fact, it has been blighted by draws. The visitors are unbeaten in their last five World Cup qualifiers, but three of those games have ended in goalless draws.
Last time out Herve Renard’s team recorded a 3-0 win over Gabon to put themselves in pole position to seal World Cup qualification.
Morocco’s record on their travels in World Cup qualifying is poor, as they have failed to win any of their last ten games on their travels. However, six of those ten games have finished in draws, which would be enough to seal their spot at Russia 2018.
Forebet predicts that the visitors will grind out another draw in Abidjan and qualify for next year’s World Cup.