Substitutes Abdelhamid Sabiri and Zakaria Aboukhlal gave Morocco their first World Cup win in 24 years as they beat a dismal Belgium 2-0 in World Cup Group F on Sunday.
The ambiance on the Al Thumama Stadium seething with Moroccan followers gave the match a classic World Cup really feel and Sabiri fired a free kick huge over Thibaut Courtois earlier than Aboukhlal netted in stoppage time to place Morocco prime of Group F with 4 factors. made it to the highest. Belgium.
It was Morocco’s first win on the World Cup since defeating Scotland in 1998. He left the 2018 match with an harm.
A historic win for the Atlas Lions 🇲🇦@EnMaroc , #FIFA World Cup pic.twitter.com/hqJwAgRRFc
– FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 27, 2022
Belgium, which registered a 1-0 win over Canada of their opening sport, once more paled within the shade of the group that completed 2018 in third place and rose to second on the earth rankings. They will now should face Croatia for a spot within the last-16.
The Red Devils’ poor efficiency additionally compelled coach Roberto Martinez to ship on Romelu Lukaku for the ultimate 10 minutes in a determined try to salvage a degree, although the attacking striker was battling a hamstring drawback.
Croatia, who’ve a degree from their draw with Morocco, will play Canada of their different Group F sport on Sunday.
In a vigorous begin, Morocco regarded completely satisfied to take a seat and wait amidst the deafening whistles of their followers, though bouts of intense urgent noticed some harmful counter-attacks with Hakim Ziyech principal the menace.
Organ. pic.twitter.com/4hOeIL7NlB
– FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 27, 2022
As Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne struggled to seek out his vary and Eden Hazard remained largely ineffective, Morocco regarded protected. Courtois was overwhelmed for the primary time within the match when Ziyech unleashed a free kick throughout the pack and volleyed previous the keeper on the close to submit on the stroke of half-time.
Romain Saiss, nonetheless, was marginally offside and referee Carlos Ramos dominated the aim off after a VAR assessment because the Besiktas defender was obstructing Courtois’ view. Morocco started to fancy their possibilities and had been extra on the assault with Sophien Boufal’s shot from contained in the field going huge after the break.
Belgium had been in poor situation and MartÃnez despatched on Youri Tielemans and Dries Mertens to exchange Amadou Onana and Eden Hazard. Mertens had a right away influence, forcing El Cajoui, who had stood in for Yassin Bouno minutes earlier than kickoff, right into a spectacular save with a fierce shot.
Moroccan substitute Sabiri broke the impasse with an angled free kick within the 73rd, which led to a ruled-out aim within the first half, as Courtois may solely slot the ball into the web. Sass was additionally on the way in which, however this time was reversed, and the Moroccans defended tooth and nail till they discovered one other opening, Abukhlal clipping Ziyech’s cross into the roof of the web because the stadium boiled.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
