Morocco and Hakim Ziyech could win 2022 World Cup as omen surrounding Chelsea, Juan Mata, Andre Schurrle, and Olivier Giroud emerges
Morocco have been one of the stories of the 2022 World Cup and an astonishing omen suggests they will go on and beat France and Argentina to win it.
The Atlas Lions have become the first African and first Arab nation to reach the semi-finals of the tournament, beating Spain and Portugal on their way to set up a semi-final against Les Bleus, which is live on talkSPORT.
They have been resolute in defence – conceding just one goal at the tournament – and take the few chances they get, which has enabled them to get this far in the tournament.
Now, they will be buoyed by the omen on their side, relating to star man Hakim Ziyech, shirt numbers and the year the World Cup is played in.
In 2014, Chelsea’s number 14 was Andre Schurrle, who was a Germany international and was part of the team that won the World Cup that year.
He scored twice in the semi-final win over Brazil and assisting Mario Gotze’s goal in the final success over Argentina.
In 2018, Chelsea’s number 18 was Olivier Giroud, who had a crucial role in France’s World Cup success.
Even though he didn't net a single goal; he was influential in linking the attack together and allowing Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann to flourish.
Most read in Football
The same could apply to the 2022 tournament where Ziyech wears Chelsea’s number 22 and is an important part of the Morocco team.
If you wanted to take the omen further, while Juan Mata didn't play for Chelsea when he won the World Cup in 2010, he did wear the No.10 shirt when he pitched up in London in 2011.
Ziyech's success at the tournament in Qatar has been a little surprising.
He has been a bit-part player at Chelsea for the past year, struggling to make an impact under Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter.
There is a belief he could leave the club as early as the January transfer window, with multiple Serie A clubs interested.
But he could leave with a World Cup winners' medal if the omen is correct again...
talkSPORT World Cup 2022 Coverage
talkSPORT is bringing you wall-to-wall coverage of the 2022 World Cup.
We are broadcasting all 64 games in the tournament live, with over 600 hours of coverage across our network.
You can tune in to talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2 via our free online streaming service at talkSPORT.com.
talkSPORT is widely available across the UK via DAB digital radio and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
You can also download the talkSPORT app, or ask your smart speaker to play talkSPORT.