4 Tips for Thursday’s World Cup Action - 1/12/22

The first tip on this list comes from Canada against Morocco in Group F, with the African side knowing that they can qualify for the Round of 16 at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Last time out, Bayern Munich man Alphonso Davies scored in the second minute of Canada’s 4-1 loss to Croatia with a powerful header. There were a total of eight corners in the Maple Leafs’ 1-0 defeat against Belgium and seven in their loss to Croatia - on top of this, these fixtures saw a combined total of nine yellow cards (four vs Belgium and five vs Croatia).

Morocco are expected to win this game, having held Croatia to a 0-0 draw before defeating Belgium 2-0 on matchday two to put themselves within touching distance of the knockout stages.

Croatia and Belgium face off in Group F’s other fixture, with this being a straight shootout for the other knockout place if Morocco emerges victorious against Canada.

This is a meeting of second and third place from the 2018 World Cup in Russia. A player that will want to help his side out having returned to fitness is Belgium’s all-time top scorer, Romelu Lukaku.

The former Manchester United and Inter Milan striker has scored a total of 68 goals in 103 matches for the Red Devils, including the only goal of the game in a 1-0 friendly win over Zlatko Dalic’s men back in June 2021. Lukaku has had two or more shots on target in six of his last 10 appearances for Belgium.

Germany knows that they must beat Costa Rica to stand any chance of progressing from Group E ahead of their opponents and one of Japan or Spain.

Hansi Flick’s men come into this match as firm favourites despite losing 2-1 to Japan and drawing 1-1 with Spain last time out.

Bayern Munich playmaker Jamal Musiala was impressive in Die Mannschaft’s draw with Spain, as the 19-year-old created an assist for Werder Bremen forward Niclas Fullkrug - a potentially vital contribution. On top of this, both of Germany’s matches at this tournament against Japan and Costa Rica have had 11 or more corners.

Costa Rica were shown three yellow cards in their 1-0 win over Japan, as Francisco Calvo, Celso Borges and Anthony Contreras were all booked.

The final tip on this list comes from Japan against Spain, with Luis Enrique’s men looking to confirm qualification for the Round of 16 after a superb start to the tournament.

Spain thrashed Costa Rica 7-0 in their opening match at the World Cup prior to their 1-1 draw with Germany. Atletico Madrid forward Alvaro Morata scored in both of these matches and will be pushing for a start against the Samurai Blue.

In Spain’s 1-1 draw with Germany, there were a total of 11 corners in the match as well as four yellow cards. Japan’s most recent encounter with Costa Rica saw a total of 60 booking points, with both teams receiving three yellow cards each.

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