The goals for the Atlas Lions were scored by Abdelhamid Sabiri (73rd) and Zakaria Aboukhlal (90+2nd).
For this second outing of the Atlas Lions at the Qatari World Cup, national coach Walid Regragui has fielded the same team that held their own against Croatia on the first day (0-0), except for Mounir Mohammedi in goal instead of Yassine Bounou, who was injured shortly before the kick-off of this match.
Roberto Martinez, for his part, made three changes to his starting eleven compared to the match against Canada. Thomas Meunier, Thorgan Hazard and Amadou Onana were named in the starting line-up instead of Dendoncker, Tielemans and Carrasco.
The Moroccans started the match with a bang, boosted by a crowd that was behind them. However, the Red Devils, who had never lost a World Cup match against an African team (3 wins, 1 draw), quickly took control of the game, gradually approaching the Moroccan goal, benefiting from the defensive retrenchment of Ghanem Saïss’ teammates.
In the 5th minute, following a superb pass from Thorgan Hazard, Batshuayi almost opened the scoring but he came up against a well-positioned Mohammedi.
This was followed by a multitude of Belgian attempts, which put the Moroccan defence to the test.
The Moroccans, in an attempt to ease their defence, tried to get out of the rut and managed to get the first shot on target in the 20th minute through Hakim Ziyech, whose strike went over the crossbar.
After the storm of the first twenty minutes, the Atlas Lions began to impose their rhythm and win the duels in midfield, but without managing to serve En-Nesyri well in depth.
The tactical plan imposed by the national team sowed doubt in the Belgian camp, who made a number of missed passes in midfield, faced with strong pressure from the Moroccan midfield line, which managed to contain the ardour of Kevin De Bruyne’s teammates.
It was not until the 34th minute that the Moroccans had their best chance to score. Achraf Hakimi, entering the area on the right side, tried to surprise Courtois at the near post, but his shot was off target.
In added time, Hakim Ziyech managed to beat Thibaut Courtois with a free kick on the right side, but the goal was invalidated by VAR for offside by Ghanem Saïss, who threw himself in front of the Belgian goalkeeper.
In the second half, the Moroccans came back with the same intentions, exerting enormous pressure on the Belgians. Ziyech, very active during this match, attempted a shot from 25 meters in the middle, but his shot was easily caught by Courtois (50th).
Two minutes later, Eden Hazard also tried to shoot in the area but Mohammedi managed to clear the danger for a corner.
Morocco’s dominance in the second half almost came to fruition when Boufal easily eliminated Thomas Meunier on the left in the box and curled his shot perfectly with his right foot, which grazed Courtois’ left post.
Sensing danger approaching his goalkeeper, Martinez made two changes on the hour mark with Youri Tielemans coming on for Amadou Onana and Dries Mertens coming on for Eden Hazard.
On the Moroccan side, Abdelhamid Sabiri and Yahya Attiat Allah came on in the 68th minute to replace, respectively, Selim Amallah and Achraf Hakimi.
Freshly entered, Sabiri found the back of the net with a powerful shot at the near post which left Courtois with no chance (73rd).
After this opening goal, the Belgians played everything they could, with the aim of equalising, but the Moroccan defence was well placed to defend this advantage.
The changes made by Regragui, with the entry into play, in particular, of Zakaria Abou Khlal and Abderrazzak Hamdallah have borne fruit. In added time, Hamdallah recovers the ball in front of the surface, eliminates Castagne and puts the ball back to Aboukhlal, who takes it with his right and places the ball in the top corner (90th + 2).
Thanks to this victory, the third in the World Cup after those against Portugal (3-1) in 1986 and Scotland (3-0) in 1998, Morocco takes the lead in Group F with 4 points, ahead of Belgium (3 pts). Croatia is third (1 pt) ahead of Canada.
The second match of the same group will see Croatia take on Canada at the Khalifa International Stadium.
2024-08-31 08:04:40