Morocco finished undefeated, ahead of the silver and bronze medals of the previous World Cup, at the top of the group, and quite deservedly.
Even before the final round of Group F, it was decided that we would definitely not meet Canada in the direct elimination stage of the World Cup in Qatar, and that Belgium, the bronze medalist of the previous round, could qualify only if they defeated Croatia. , silver medalist in the previous round. Of the foursome, Morocco could probably have waited for the match against Canada in the most comfortable position, because even a draw would qualify them for the round of 16, regardless of the outcome of the other match.
Morocco, on the other hand, didn’t want to leave anything to chance, so they started right: they took the lead in the fourth minute – thanks to a bad pass and a terrible goalkeeper error. Zygis scored into the empty net from half of the Canadian court, that is, from a good 30-32 meters (0-1):
And in the 23rd minute, Morocco increased its advantage: Hakimi gave a wonderful pass from his own half, from about 70 meters. Transferred by Al-Nasiri (0-2) A quiet finish from the most beautiful goal pass in the World Cup:
Canada fought honorably, coming up with particularly creative attacks in places, but the final passes were always somehow imprecise. However, the improvement still held in the first half: Adekobi beat his Moroccan opponent one-on-one on the left side, then smashed his ball sharply into the middle from the edge of the penalty area. Ajord put it in his own net (1-2) – This was the second Canadian goal in the history of vébécs, which, by the way, was not scored by Canada:
In the second half, Canada entered the field with a clear intention to bring themselves back into the game, took the lead and created several promising situations in front of the Moroccan goal (eg this is), but the recording didn’t work anyway.
Morocco reached the Round of 16 of the World Cup without defeat and was fully deserved as the leader of the group – from the quartet we can still face Croatia in the elimination stage in a row.
FIFA World Cup, Group F, Third Round
- Canada – Morocco 1-2 (1-2)
- Goal: Aguird (40th minute – goal kick); And Zij (the fourth minute) and Al-Nusairi (23)
(Photo: Getty Images)
