DOHA: Morocco coach Walid Regragui made two changes to his starting line-up as his team bid to clinch their place in the World Cup last 16 against already-eliminated Canada on Thursday.
Regragui brings back goalkeeper Yassine Bounou following his absence from Sunday’s win over Belgium in Group F.
He has also made an attacking change in midfield, with Abdelhamid Sabiri coming in for Selim Amallah.
Canada coach John Herdman has made four changes for his team’s final game of the tournament following defeats to Belgium and Croatia.
Mark-Anthony Kaye comes into midfield for his first start of the tournament while Sam Adekugbe, Junior Hoilett and Jonathan Osorio have also been named in the starting line-up.
Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies has been pushed into a more advanced role as Canada aim to thwart Morocco’s qualification bid at the Al Thumama Stadium.
Morocco, who are second in Group F with four points, need only a draw to be assured of a place in the knockout rounds.
Teams:
Canada (3-4-3)
Milan Borjan; Alistair Johnston, Kamal Miller, Steven Vitoria; Sam Adekugbe, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Jonathan Osorio, Junior Hoilett; Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David, Tajon Buchanan
Coach: John Herdman (ENG)
Morocco (4-3-3)
Yassine Bounou; Achraf Hakimi, Nayef Aguerd, Romain Saiss (capt), Noussair Mazraoui; Sofyan Amrabat, Azzedine Ounahi, Abdelhamid Sabiri; Youssef En-Nesyri, Sofiane Boufal, Hakim Ziyech
Coach: Walid Regragui (MAR)
Referee: Raphael Claus (BRA)
Bounou back as Morocco eye World Cup last 16
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Bounou back as Morocco eye World Cup last 16
- Regragui brings back goalkeeper Yassine Bounou following his absence from Sunday’s win over Belgium in Group F
Dakar bike champion Sanders wins second stage to take lead
- The 31-year-old covered the 518km route from Yanbu to AlUla in 4hrs 13mins 37 seconds
ALULA, Saudi Arabia: Australia’s defending Dakar Rally motorbike champion Daniel Sanders moved into the overall lead after winning Monday’s second stage in Saudi Arabia.
The 31-year-old covered the 518km route from Yanbu to AlUla in 4hrs 13mins 37 seconds to cross the line 1min 35s clear of KTM teammate Edgar Canet, who lost time with a couple of minor crashes.
American Ricky Brabec, the 2024 winner, completed the day’s podium for Honda.
With this 10th stage win in motorsport’s toughest challenge, Sanders climbed to the top of the bike standings by half a minute from Canet, winner of the prologue and opening stage, with Brabec 2min 18s back in third.
“The navigation was really tricky in some places but we fixed a couple of mistakes quickly and didn’t lose too much time,” said Sanders, who has been competing in the Dakar since 2021.
HIGHLIGHT
With this 10th stage win in motorsport’s toughest challenge, Sanders climbed to the top of the bike standings by half a minute from Canet, winner of the prologue and opening stage, with Brabec 2min 18s back in third.
The rider, who lists beekeeping as one of his hobbies and is known as ‘Chucky,’ added: “I caught Edgar after around one hundred kilometers. It was so hard to catch him and pass him before.
“After that, there was some really tricky stuff and he (Canet) just sat behind and watched, followed and learned.”
Canet was thankful to complete an eventful stage unharmed.
“Well, the stage is completed,” said the 20-year-old Spaniard.
“The truth is that it has been a long stage, 400 km opening the track for the first time.
“I had a few crashes, as you can see, but hey, these things happen. There are some rocks that you can’t see when you’re looking at the roadbook,” he added.
In the car category, American Seth Quintero beat his South African Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate Henk Lategan by 1:42 with the Saudi reigning champion Yazeed Al-Rajhi in third.
Qatar’s five-time Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah heads the standings driving for Dacia by just seven seconds from Quintero after coming in eighth in the stage.
Tuesday’s third stage is a 422km special starting and ending in AlUla.
