Scotland v Morocco: Take these two player-based bets for key clash

Scotland victorious but Haiti win was unconvincing

Click here for Scotland v Morocco odds
Friday 19 June, 23:00
Live on ITV1

After leading his Scotland team to a 1-0 victory over Haiti, manager Steve Clarke was in defiant mood. He had clearly been irked by the constant description of his side's World Cup opener as "must-win", but with Morocco and Brazil lying in wait, it was hard to describe it any other way. Failure to beat the Haitians would have put a huge dent in Scotland's hopes of getting to the last 32 and securing knockout football at a major tournament for the first time ever.

Scotland won the game in Boston with a scrappy but welcome first-half strike from John McGinn, but then rode their luck at times. Haiti striker Frandzy Pierrot missed a clear headed chance late on, and following McGinn's goal, Scotland were outshot 12-3 and only had 40% possession.

Clarke now has an interesting tactical conundrum to solve. The warm-up games against Curacao (4-1) and Bolivia (4-0) were clearly geared towards the Haiti match, with Clarke opting to use a two-striker formation. However, against much more dangerous sides like Morocco and Brazil, he must decide whether to adopt a five-man defence and drop a striker.

However, it's worth bearing in mind that a more attacking approach has been yielding dividends for Scotland. They played a 4-4-2 against Denmark in the game that saw them secure qualification with a 4-2 win, and they have scored four goals or more in four of their last 12 games.

Ryan Christie is pushing for a start, but Clarke has no injury worries, and could select an unchanged line-up.

Morocco on a high after scaring Brazil

Having reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2022 and having become African champions recently (albeit well after the final had been lost on the pitch), Morocco had every reason to go into this World Cup with plenty of confidence. During their 1-1 draw with Carlo Ancelotti's Brazil, the Atlas Lions showed their quality.

Brahim Diaz's declaration for Morocco (he had played youth and senior football for Spain) has given the team extra firepower, and it was the Real Madrid forward's defence-splitting pass that allowed Ismael Saibari to lift the ball beyond Alisson for the opening goal. Morocco were then undone by a moment of Vinicius Junior magic, but overall the Opta stats show the North African side had more goal attempts than Brazil and nearly as much possession. Indeed, a startling statistic gives you an idea of the confidence Morocco played with, as they are only the second side on record to have had five goal attempts in the first 10 minutes against Brazil in a World Cup match.

Eighteen-year-old midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi was truly outstanding, with the Lille star treating a game against the Selecao like a kickabout with his mates. He was dribbling the ball out of his own defensive third, winning key challenges and breaking the lines. It was a superb all-round display. Saibari took his goal beautifully, Achraf Hakimi had some classic runs from right-back, and keeper Yacine Bounou looked rock solid.

Coach Mohamed Ouahbi has no fresh injury worries and could name an unchanged line-up.

Use the OddsBoost for 2/1 shots wager

Using the Sportsbook's OddsBoost section, you can back both Scott McTominay and Brahim Diaz to have a shot on target each, and the price has been boosted from 6/42.50 to 2/13.00. In the last two seasons under Antonio Conte at Napoli, McTominay has become one of the most effective box-crashing midfielders in Europe. He scored seven goals in qualifying, and hit the post against Haiti.

As for Diaz, he had three shots against Brazil, and hit the target once. If you look at his four games at AFCON, you see that the former Manchester City player hit the target in three of them.

Bouaddi in the thick of the action

I can't quite call the Match Odds here. Scotland have shown in the Nations League that they can be competitive against top sides, but the Betfair Sportsbook's 8/111.73 on offer for a Morocco win feels about right.

Instead I'll use the Bet Builder to back Ayyoub Bouaddi to have three foul involvements and Over 2.5 Goals at 9/43.25. Bouaddi committed a foul and was fouled twice against Brazil, and Scotland will need to try to disrupt him if they are to stop Morocco from breaking the lines to start attacks.

As for the overs part of the bet, this is a game that Morocco probably need to win if they harbour ambitions of getting out of the group, and if they fail to win, qualification then surely rests on a nervy final battle against Haiti. Central defence strikes me as a weak link in this Scotland side, and Clarke's men have conceded multiple goals in six of their last 13 competitive internationals.

Notable winners on Betting.Betfair so far at the 2026 World Cup...

- Mark Stinchcombe's stunning 38/139.00 Bet Builder in South Korea v Czechia
- Paul Higham's 9/25.50 Bet Builder in Mexico's MD1 defeat of South Africa
- Paul also tipped 13/53.60 (Canada v Bosnia) & 15/82.88 (Brazil v Morocco) draws
- A 6/17.00 winning ACCA for Mark on Sunday at the World Cup
- Andy Robson's 9/110.00 five-leg ACCA as Germany wallop Curacao
- Another 13/53.60 winner for Paul as France beat Senegal with both teams scoring
- Paul's at it again, an 11/43.75 winning Best Bet in Switzerland v Bosnia
- An 11/26.50 winner for Jimmy The Punt as Jonathan David scores twice

Now read our other World Cup previews here!