Morocco won its first World Cup match since 1998 – and its third-ever – securing a sensational 2-0 victory over heavyweight Belgium to ensure that it can still qualify for the knockout stage for the second time in its history.
The Atlas Lions were roared on by raucous support inside the stadium as they overcame a disallowed goal on the stroke of halftime to score two glorious strikes in the second half.
First, Abdelhamid Sabiri curled in a perfectly-weighted free kick from the left-hand wing, bamboozling Thibaut Courtois, before Zakaria Aboukhlal sealed his side’s famous win.
After an underwhelming performance in its opening 1-0 victory against Canada, Belgium started more fluently but still seemed a shadow of its usual self as Morocco looked to build on its own solid start to the World Cup following a scoreless draw against Croatia.
And it seemed as if Morocco had found the early breakthrough on the stroke of halftime, as Hakim Ziyech’s free kick rocketed past Courtois, though it was later ruled out by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for offside.
The two sides headed down the tunnel level at 0-0, but this did not quell the support of the thousands of Moroccan fans whose chants rang around the stadium all game.
And they erupted in celebration midway through the second half when Sabiri’s free-kick found the back of the net, putting Morocco within reach of the win.
Belgium offered little in response and Ziyech weaved through the Belgian defense in injury time, passed the ball back into the box where Aboukhlal chipped it into the back of the net.
When the final whistle blew minutes later, several Moroccan players fell to their knees – some bowed their heads in prayer, some simply collapsed in exhaustion – before they embraced each other in celebration.
Morocco is now top of Group F on four points after stunning the No. 2 ranked side in the world.
Source: CNN
