Germany will face Morocco in their conquest to continue their high-performance level from last year's European Championship where they finished second behind England.
The team from Martina Voss-Tecklenburg have not had the best preparation as they lost 3-2 to Zambia in their send-off game on home soil and before that only managed a close victory over Vietnam.
On the other side, Morocco will make their first appearance at this year's Women's World Cup. They achieved qualification to the tournament through the Africa Cup on home soil where they finished second behind South Africa - their best result to date.
Coach Reynald Pedros who previously coached the women's team of Olympique Lyonnais while winning multiple trophies seems to have found the Atlas Lionesses' strengths and how to use them.
Team news
The DFB Frauen are without Giulia Gwinn due to an ACL injury. For Carolin Simon, it became even more tragic when she suffered the same injury during additional time in the last game before the start of the journey to Australia.
Additionally, Germany will have to do without centre-back Marina Hegering and central midfielder Lena Oberdorf who are both still not recovered after picking up injuries in the send-off game against Zambia. Sjoeke Nüsken's appearance is also still in question as the new Chelsea defender has an outer ligament strain in her knee after a test match against a boys' team earlier this week and did only partly participate in the team training.
For Hegering, Sara Doorsoun is a potential replacement. In the midfield position, Melanie Leupolz, Sydney Lohmann or Lena Lattwein could rotate into the squad. Another option would be to pull back Alexandra Popp from the striker position.
Fortunately, there are no injury concerns in the Moroccan team at the moment.
Ghizlane Chebbak will captain the squad for their first World Cup match. She is expected to start in central midfield joined by Elodie Nakkach.
For goal-scoring opportunities, the team will look up to Rosella Ayane. The Tottenham Hotspur forward will try her best to add to her nine goals scored in 21 international matches.
Predicted lineups
Germany: Frohms - Huth, Hendrich, Doorsoun, Rauch - Brand, Leupolz, Däbritz, Magull, Bühl - Popp
Morocco: Errmichi - Redouani, Ait El Haj, Yas, Seghir - Ouzraoui, Chebbak, Nakkach, Saoud - Amani, Ayane
Key players
Germany - Svenja Huth
With right back Giulia Gwinn still in recovery after an ACL injury from last year this position has troubled the German team for some time. Svenja Huth was the latest player who occupied the position and is expected to start there against Morocco.
The Wolfsburg player has shown how versatile she can be on the pitch. Normally, Huth plays on the right wing as her strengths lie in speed and pinpoint crosses - especially with teammate Alexandra Popp this works extremely well.
Morocco - Ghizlane Chebbak
Ghizlane Chebbak has won best player of the 2022 AFCON where the team came in second behind South Africa. On top of that, the 32-year-old captain of the Moroccan national team has become the best scorer in the domestic league already five times with club ASFAR.
Match details
Where is the game being played?
Germany will face Morocco at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. The city is located on the southeast coast of Australia and is the capital of the state of Victoria.
What time is kick off?
The game will start at 09:30am BST - that’s 18:30 for fans watching live in Melbourne. For fans in Germany, the match kicks off at 10:30 CEST.
How can I watch?
The game will be available on free-to-air TV in the UK on ITV 1. In Germany, fans can tune in to ZDF. Additionally, there will be live updates on both teams' twitter accounts, @DFB_Frauen for Germany @EnMaroc for Morocco.
