2018 World Cup: 5 underdogs who can make a deep run in the tournament

#1 Morocco

Don't sleep on the Atlas Lions

In a group with Spain, Portugal and Iran, it is easy to count out Morocco, who don't necessarily have any big names in their squad. They are captained by Juventus defender Mehdi Benatia, who is their key man.

The goalkeeping position is up for grabs between Girona keeper Yassine Bounou and Numancia keeper Munir Mohamedi, but both are good enough to do a solid job in goal. Along with them, the defense has captain Benatia, Manuel Da Costa and youngster Achraf Hakimi. There are players like Hakim Ziyech, Younes Belhanda and Karim El Ahmadi playing in the middle of the park. Going forward, unlike the other teams, Morocco do not have a lot of firepower, but they do have utility players like Aziz Bouhaddouz or Youssef En-Nesyri.

Even though Morocco are in a challenging group, they will face Spain, who have had a managerial crisis at the last minute, and Portugal, whose ageing team may not perform the same way they used to. If they do progress, it would probably set up a clash with Russia, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay or Egypt. This seems like a relatively simple draw, if they make it through.