International Friendly: Estonia vs Morocco – Lineups, Preview and Prediction


REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

17:00 BST, Saturday 9th June, A. Le Coq Arena, (Tallinn, Estonia)

Morocco’s World Cup warm-up campaign concludes with a trip to Tallinn. This comes on the back of excursions to Geneva, Casablanca, and Torino where they faced the likes of Serbia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and Slovakia.

That selection of games produced three wins and a draw for the African Nations' champions to extend their unbeaten run to 17 games in all competitions. This will be their first ever meeting with the Estonians.

After a 20-year absence from FIFA’s elite tournament, Morocco have been drawn in a group containing Spain, Portugal, and Iran. As a result, they are odds-on not to qualify for the Round of 16.

Coach Herve Renard has toyed with 4-2-3-1, 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 formations during his time in charge, and his team will often switch systems during games.

Meanwhile, Estonia enjoyed their most successful qualifying campaign ever, only losing 50% of their games and finishing fourth in a group of six. However, World Cup participation remains a distant dream for the Baltic nation.

Since 2016, they have been coached by Martin Reim who is also the nation’s most capped player with 157 appearances. He also holds the distinction of being the most capped footballer never to have featured at a major tournament.

The team often lines up with three or five at the back with four in the middle and a target man up front. This allows them to withdraw into a tight defensive unit with two banks of five and four against stronger opposition but switch to a more attacking 3-4-3 against weaker teams.

Last Time Out

Latvia 1-0 Estonia (Baltic Cup)

Estonia fell to a 70th minute Janis Ikaunieks goal in their recent Baltic Cup match against Latvia. It was a fairly even game but Reim's men created the most chances with four shots on target to Latvia’s one. 

Unfortunately, they could not convert and the home side lifted the trophy, drawing with Lithuania in the final game. It was the eighth game in a row involving Estonia to produce two goals or fewer. 

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