Tuesday 30th June – 2.00am BST
🌍 FIFA World Cup – Round of 32 ⚽
🇳🇱 Netherlands vs. Morocco 🇲🇦
| ⚽️ BET 1: Brian Brobbey to score 💷 1pt Best Odds: 3.50 at William Hill ⚽️ BET 2: Both Teams to Score/Over 2.5 Goals 💷 1.5pt Best Odds: 2.50 at Sky Bet ⚽️ BET 3: Netherlands win/Both Teams to Score 💷 1pt Best Odds: 5.50 at William Hill (5.00 at Sky Bet) ⚽️ BET 4: Ismael Saibari to score or assist 💷 1pt Best Odds: 3.00 at Paddy Power |
It’s hard to look past Brian Brobbey in this matchup — particularly against Morocco’s makeshift centre‑back pairing of Chadi Riad (Crystal Palace) and Issa Diop (Fulham). Morocco’s build‑up to the tournament was anything but smooth. After failing to win AFCON on home soil (the later awarded it – and still to be decided in court), Walid Regragui — the coach who guided them to fourth at the last World Cup — stepped down, handing the reins to Mohamed Ouahbi just months before the tournament, whose main success came with Morocco’s Under‑20 World Cup triumph.
The squad then took further hits. Veteran leader Romain Saïss retired after the AFCON disappointment, while Abde Ezzalzouli and defensive lynchpin Nayef Aguerd both withdrew injured. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this is not the same Morocco that thrived under Regragui.
The patched‑together centre‑back duo of Diop and Riad had never played a competitive minute together until a March friendly against Ecuador — a game in which Ecuador scored from one of their few chances in a 1–1 draw. Their vulnerabilities resurfaced in the final group match against Haiti, where Morocco dropped Diop and shifted right‑footer Noussair Mazraoui to left‑back. The result was chaos: Haiti scored twice in a 4–2 defeat, with the first goal exposing Morocco badly. Jean‑Kevin Duverne simply burned past PSV’s Anass Salah‑Eddine and squared for an unmarked Lenny Joseph, while Achraf Hakimi stood watching after losing his runner. Hakimi later bundled in a scrappy goal at the other end, but it did little to mask the defensive issues.
Going forward, Morocco remain blunt. They managed only one goal against Scotland — a game Brazil breezed through — and despite putting four past Haiti, they still look short of ideas in the final third. However, PSV Ismael Saibari, who the Dutch will know very well, has found the net three times so far, playing in his less familiar false nine role under Ouahbi. He is 2/1 at Paddy Power to score or assist. You have to think he will be involved tonight.
The contrast with the Netherlands is stark. The Dutch are flying in front of goal, scoring ten times in three group matches, though they’ve shown their own defensive cracks by conceding two to Japan and one each to Tunisia and Sweden. But in terms of attacking momentum, they arrive in a completely different gear to Morocco. Both Teams to Score has been a reliable trend for the Netherlands, landing in six of their last seven matches. Morocco show a similar pattern when you strip out the two friendly wins over the weak Madagascar and Burundi — five of their last six competitive fixtures have also seen both sides find the net.
I just see the Dutch having far too much for Morocco. Their midfield and attack are stacked with quality, and with Denzel Dumfries and Virgil van Dijk always capable of chipping in from the back, this is a side that looks like it could put three or four past almost anyone. One player worth isolating is Sunderland’s Brian Brobbey. The powerhouse striker already has three goals in two starts against Sweden and Tunisia and looks virtually unstoppable.
Given how Issa Diop struggled with Che Adams’ pace against Scotland — and arguably should have been sent off — it’s hard to imagine Brobbey not getting multiple chances tonight to add to his tally. With Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch, (both Liverpool) Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona) and Tijjani Reijnders (Manchester City), all operating at top European clubs, pulling the strings and carrying their own goal threat, it’s difficult to see Morocco keeping them out. And if Haiti can score twice…
Moroccan outlet La Dépêche notes that the wider atmosphere around this fixture is tense, describing it as a “derby” layered with social and political undertones, and warning that some observers fear the match could be “instrumentalised.” The Netherlands, home to one of Europe’s largest Moroccan diaspora communities, has a history of debates around cultural integration and dual nationality. Diplomatic friction has also surfaced over the years, particularly around Morocco’s frustration with the Dutch refusal to extradite suspects linked to organised crime. There has been movement recently: earlier this month, the Dutch House of Representatives approved a new, wide‑ranging extradition treaty with Morocco aimed at better cooperation against international drug trafficking. Whether any of that has even the slightest bearing on the match we’re about to watch is another matter entirely.
Will Burns
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