Ziyech's return key as Morocco eye World Cup upset against Spain
Even without Hakim Ziyech, Morocco still had one of the strongest squads at AFCON 2021, yet crashed out at the quarter-final stage at the hands of eventual finalists Egypt. Nevertheless, it was a sub-par campaign for the Atlas Lions, who had been one of the pre-tournament favourites.
Fast forward to the present day, and Morocco are in the last-16 of the World Cup for the first time since 1986 having topped a group containing European powerhouses Belgium and Croatia, the latter joining them in the knockout stages. Head coach Vahid Halihodzic elected to leave Ziyech out of the AFCON 2021 squad as the player "refused to work" for the team, but with Walid Regragui in charge, the 29-year-old has returned to the national fold, and they are certainly benefitting from his return.
Ziyech has endured a disappointing season with Chelsea, with four of his five appearances coming from the bench. In all, he has totalled just 148 minutes of league action for the Blues. A lack of match sharpness hasn't impacted the creator, though, who has scored one and assisted another for Morocco in Qatar. Only right-back Achraf Hakimi (7.51) has earned a better WhoScored rating than Ziyech (7.46) for the Atlas Lions.
Ziyech's return to the national setup has had the boost many had hoped it would have. Last January, Morocco struggled to find the right player to operate from the right in the absence of the former Ajax star, and while Sofiane Boufal impressed from the left, without a consistent attacking threat from the right, it did negatively impact the African powerhouse. Hakimi's influence did mean that 44% of their attacks did come down the right, the largest proportion at AFCON, yet they still lacked a spark in the final third.
Now that Ziyech is back in the side, there is greater attacking balance to Morocco, with the Blues star and Boufal flanking Youssef En-Nesyri impressively in their favoured 4-3-3 formation. Ziyech has made more key passes (4) than any other Morocco player, which may not seem like much, but considering their possession average of just 36.5% is the fourth lowest at the World Cup, he is doing all he can to pry apart defences when he does get on the ball. Given they come up against a Spain side that is absolutely dominating the ball - they have a possession average of 76.9% across their three games - Morocco are again expected to sit and wait for their chance to counter.
As such, Ziyech will be key to Morocco soaking up pressure and then helping to expose a high defensive line. Of the 17 dribbles the Atlas Lions have completed in Qatar, Ziyech is responsible for seven, so if he can get on the ball in good positions, he has the ability to take on his man to help open up angles to put La Roja to the sword. Even on the opposite flank, Regragui is able to utilise this quality to Boufal's game. What's important is that there are now two quality outlets on either side of the attack, whereas Halihodzic largely had just Boufal to utilise at AFCON, making Morocco are far more testing opponent.
And Spain, despite their thumping 7-0 win over Costa Rica, have looked vulnerable at the World Cup, notably in the 2-1 defeat to Japan last week. Granted, Luis Enrique made a number of changes to his XI for that loss, but Morocco will take confidence from that result as they look to upset the odds this week.
With Ziyech looking back to his best for the national team, this coming despite a lack of game time for his club this season, this Morocco side certainly has what it takes to write their name into the history books at Spain's expense. They've never progressed beyond the first knockout stage of a World Cup, and having already held their own against Croatia and Belgium, then it's impossible to completely rule Morocco out in this last-16 tie, particularly with Ziyech showing the kind of form that saw him shoot to prominence with both Twente and Ajax.
