Morocco, “the ambush in Africa”, produced another surprise at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Morocco, 22nd in the FIFA rankings, defeated Belgium, 2nd in the FIFA rankings, 2-0 in the second leg of the Group F group stage of the Qatar World Cup held at the Assumama Stadium in Doha, in Qatar, on the night of the 27th.
Morocco will produce the third surprise in this tournament, after Saudi Arabia, which defeated Argentina, and Japan, which defeated Germany.
Morocco, who managed W1, D1 and 4 points, had the same points as Croatia (W1, D1, 4 points), who won 4-1 in the same group match between Croatia and Canada, but goal difference (Croatia +3, Morocco +2) and finished second in the group.
Belgium, who finished third at the World Cup in Russia four years ago, conceded two second-half goals to Morocco, armed with solid defense and quick, sharp attacks.
Morocco, who have recorded just two draws and two defeats in World Cup finals since beating Scotland 3-0 in their third group match of the 1998 French tournament, have added a valuable win in 24 years.
Morocco were far behind Belgium (61%) in possession in the first half with 27%, but foreshadowed a change by directing several menacing scenes.
18′ into the first half, Amadu Onana’s header went over the net from a corner kick 18′ into the first half, and Thomas Meunir’s right-footed shot from outside the left side of the penalty area in the 2nd minute. went straight to the goalkeeper.
At the other end, Morocco, focused on defending, used a quick counter-attack to counter. Hakim Ziyasi’s long-range left footed shot in the 21st minute and Ashraf Hakimi’s strong right footed followed by an overlapping right footed in the 35th minute thrilled the Belgium.
Morocco’s Jiyasi opened the door with a strong left-footed free-kick from the right of Belgium’s goal in extra time of the first half, but was disappointing as he was ruled offside by video review (VAR).
Morocco, who had played a close match against “strong” Belgium in the second half, scored the first goal which broke the balance in the 28th minute of the second half.
Abdulhamid Sabiri kicked a free kick from the right side of the Belgian goal with his right foot down and fast.
With 9 minutes left in the second half, when Belgium were 0-1 down, striker Romelu Lukaku, who had been an unused substitute with hamstring pain, started an all-out battle, but it was been struck by a decisive goal in extra time in the second half.
In the 47th minute of the second half, Morocco broke Belgium’s will to chase with Zakariya Abuhalal’s key goal after receiving a sharp pass from Ziyasi, who quickly dug in to the left side of the penalty area.
Croatia handed the lead to Canada’s Alfonso Davies in the 2nd minute, but Andrei Kramaric’s multi-goal and additional goals from Marco Ribaya and Lobro Meyer gave Canada a 4–1 lead.
Meanwhile, in group E of the “Group of Death”, Spain’s “Invincible Armada” and Germany’s “Tank Corps” drew 1-1.
Spain took the lead with Alvaro Morata’s opener 17 minutes into the second half, but Niklas Fulkruq equalized 38 minutes into the second half, delaying confirmation of the round of 16.
In the previous match between Japan and Costa Rica, Costa Rica won 1-0 thanks to Kaycher Fuller’s winning goal in the 36th minute of the second half.
In Group E, Spain (W1, D1, 4 points) lead, with Japan, Costa Rica (above W1, L1, 3 points, goal difference) and Germany (D1, L1, 1 point ) are following
[ 경기신문 = 정민수 기자 ]
