{"id":4477,"date":"2023-04-13T17:45:47","date_gmt":"2023-04-13T17:45:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/?page_id=4477"},"modified":"2023-11-14T14:11:08","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T13:11:08","slug":"group-f","status":"publish","type":"competition-page","link":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/football-wc\/group-f","title":{"rendered":"World Cup 2022: Group F Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Group F Overview<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Group F features the runners-up and third-placed team from Russia four years ago in Croatia and Belgium respectively. The two European nations are joined by Canada, competing in their second ever World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Favourites: Belgium<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Retirements and the decline of key players have seen Belgium fall from contenders to dark horses. Roberto Martinez is still at the helm, and they arguably have the best player in the world in midfield in Kevin De Bruyne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Red Devils have had two of their three best World Cup showings at the last two editions, but their form has been patchy recently, with two Nations League losses to the Netherlands and a last-eight exit from the Euros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If things fall into place, Belgium could again find themselves in the latter rounds. They are rightly favoured to top this group, but they will likely be underdogs against Spain or Germany in the round of 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belgium are 8\/11 at Paddy Power to win Group F<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Croatia<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Still built around Luka Modri\u0107, Mateo Kova\u010di\u0107, Marcelo Brozovi\u0107 and Ivan Peri\u0161i\u0107, Croatia are laden with veterans in Qatar. The experience of four years ago is beneficial, yet repeating those heroics is a longshot, even if they are expected to progress from Group F.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chelsea target Jo\u0161ko Gvardiol is a player to keep an eye on, and the defence will need to be very solid if they are to go on a run this winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 While they aren\u2019t as strong as they have been in previous years, don\u2019t underrate the Vatreni after their stellar Nations League showing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Croatia are 5\/2 to win Group F at William Hill<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canada<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Canada were scoreless and lost all three of their matches at their only other World Cup appearance in 1986. The Maple Leafs are the strongest they have ever been right now, with Alphonso Davies, Cyle Larin and Jonathan David leading the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A semi-final exit at the 2021 Gold Cup was the first time they had reached the last four of that competition since 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While their form isn\u2019t the best with three wins from eight, Canada will be a fun team to watch in Qatar and could spring a surprise or two in this group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canada are 3\/1 to reach the last 16 at Boyle Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morocco<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Morocco have won just two of their 16 matches in World Cup play. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their group-stage exit in Russia was their first World Cup appearance since 1998, and they have suffered two early AFCON exits since then. Their form is decent, with a friendly win over Chile in September, and their squad has some impressive talents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chelsea\u2019s Hakim Ziyech and PSG\u2019s Achraf Hakimi are the two biggest names, but keep an eye out for Nayef Aguerd returning from injury and Sevilla\u2019s Youssef En-Nesyri, who has 14 international goals to his name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morocco are 23\/10 to finish in the top two in Group F at Paddy Power<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schedule and Venues<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • 23rd<\/sup> November: Croatia vs Morocco, 10am, Al Bayt Stadium<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 23rd<\/sup> November: Belgium vs Canada, 7pm, Ahmed bin Ali Stadium<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 27th<\/sup> November: Morocco vs Belgium, 1pm, Al Thumama Stadium<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 27th<\/sup> November: Croatia vs Canada, 4pm, Khalifa International Stadium<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 1st<\/sup> December: Canada vs Morocco, 3pm, Al Thumama Stadium<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 1st<\/sup> December: Belgium vs Croatia, 3pm, Ahmed bin Ali <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    All odds are subject to change<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Group F Overview Group F features the runners-up and third-placed team from Russia four years ago in Croatia and Belgium respectively. The two European nations are joined by Canada, competing in their second ever World Cup. The Favourites: Belgium Retirements and the decline of key players have seen Belgium fall from contenders to dark horses….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":28074,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/competition-page\/4477"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/competition-page"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/competition-page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/competition-page\/4477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28547,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/competition-page\/4477\/revisions\/28547"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}