Predicting and Analyzing Canada's World Cup Group Games
The good news for Canada: It's at the World Cup for the first time in 36 years. The bad news: The sportsbooks expect it to lose to Group F rivals Belgium, Croatia and Morocco and quickly exit the tournament.
Following are looks at each game, as well as predictions.
Belgium Not Playing as Well as it Did in 2018
Belgium finished third at the last World Cup, defeating Brazil on the way and winning the third-place match against England, 2-0.
The team has not been up to its standards the past four years, however. It was knocked out in the quarterfinals of Euro 2020 last summer, then went unbeaten in its World Cup qualifying group. Belgium also lost two Nations League group games to the Netherlands and finished second, narrowly ahead of Poland.
It is still head and shoulders above Canada in terms of ability. Kevin De Bruyne remains one of the best players in the world, while Thibaut Courtois in goal is arguably the world’s best.
Belgium likely will win comfortably.
Belgium to beat Canada 2-0 is is +550 with FanDuel.
Croatia Might Be Opportunity for Canada to Get a Win
This match should offer a chance for the Canadians to get some goals against a Croatia team that has been significantly weakened since reaching the World Cup final four years ago.
Mario Mandzukic was its star striker for many years, and he, superstar midfielde Ivan Rakitic, and Danijel Subašić are just three key players who started in the World Cup final and since have retired from international duty.
Despite playing poorly for two years following the World Cup, Croatia has returned to the win column in 2022 in a sensational Nations League campaign. It defeated France in Paris, also beating Austria once and Denmark twice.
Moreover Luka Modric is still captaining Croatia. Canada likely loses this game but plays better.
Croatia to win 2-1 is +750 with FanDuel.
Morocco A Difficult Team to Project
Canada will end its World Cup group campaign against Morocco on Dec. 1. The match will be Canada's last at the World Cup, if it already has lost to Croatia and Belgium, as expected. Against Morocco, it has its best chance to get points on the board.
Morocco heads into the World Cup having lost 3-0 to the United States in June. It tied 0-0 with Paraguay in its most recent game, but it does still boast some excellent talent.
Youssef En-Nesyri, Hakim Ziyech, Sofiane Boufal, Amine Harit, Noussair Mazraoui and Achraf Hakimi are just a handful of players who are both plying their trade at top clubs in Europe and playing in the Champions League. As a team, Morocco is not as well-drilled as Canada.
The game is tough to predict, with two matches to play for either team beforehand. Ahead of time, Morocco is the favorite to win at +120, and Canada is +210 with FanDuel.
Morocco and Canada to tie 1-1 is +500 with FanDuel.
