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Roared on by a partisan home crowd, will Wydad Casablanca reach the Club World Cup semi-finals?
Wydad were crowned African Champions for the third time last May, dethroning Al Ahly with a 2-0 victory in the final.
Thus, they were delighted when, back in December, FIFA announced this competition would be hosted by Morocco, thereby giving Wydad home advantage.
This will be their second Club World Cup appearance, but they’ll be hoping it goes better than their debut.
In Abu Dhabi five years ago, Wydad were dumped out at this stage by Pachuca, before also losing to Urawa Red Diamonds in the now defunct fifth-place play-off.
So, will Mehdi Nafti’s team claim an historic victory here?
Opponents Al Hilal are familiar faces at this tournament, having won the Asian Champions League in 2019 and 2021.
Given that the 2022 edition of the competition is still ongoing, the Saudi Arabian giants have once again been nominated to represent AFC.
On debut in 2019, the Blue Wave beat Espérance de Tunis in this round, before falling to Flamengo in the semi-finals.
12 months ago, Al Hilal hammered hosts Al Jazira 6-1 in round two, before a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea in the last four.
If the Saudi Pro League champions do manage to maintain their 100% record in second round ties, they’ll set up a semi-final rematch with Flamengo on Tuesday.
Here though, will the tens of thousands of Wydad supporters inside Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah help inspire their team to a momentus victory?
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