Morocco moved to the top of Group F with a well-deserved 2-0 victory over Belgium, leaving their opponents fighting to qualify for the World Cup.
The Al Thumama Stadium witnessed a competitive 90 minutes, but Morocco managed to overcome a slow start to generate the better qualities in the final third, and goals from Abdelhamid Sabiri and Zakaria Aboukhial gave the Atlas Lions their third victory in the tournament’s history.
Morocco currently holds the top spot with four points, but Belgium has some work to do to advance to the round of 16. Their fate will only be in their own hands if Croatia fails to defeat Canada. In addition, Belgium loses a chance to go 16 games in a row in the group stages of this competition without suffering a loss; this defeat is their first since the 1994 competition.
In contrast to their previous game against Canada, Belgium showed off their skills early on. Michy Batshuayi finished a fluid team move with a shot that Munir Mohamedi deflected behind.
While Amadou Onana should have performed better with a header after beating Mohamedi to a corner, Belgium’s dominance continued despite the Red Devils failing to generate clear-cut chances against Morocco.
After 20 minutes, Morocco finally got the better of their opponents when Hakim Ziyech swerved a long shot just wide of the crossbar. Although Achraf Hakimi missed the target with a shot after finding space in the penalty area as the first half went on, Morocco was starting to look more dangerous.
In the final play of the first half, Ziyech’s free kick eluded everyone and was deflected into the goal by Thibaut Courtois, giving Walid Regragui’s team hope that they had taken the lead.
Romain Saiss, despite not having touched the ball, was slightly out of bounds, which affected the situation by obstructing Courtois’s line of vision and resulted in the goal being disallowed.
Following the restart, both teams continued to exert effort. Ziyech first forced a routine save from Courtois before Eden Hazard set up a chance for himself on the right side of the penalty area and forced Mohamedi into a save at his near post.
Sofiane Boufal was the next to go close at the other end, just missing with a curling effort intended for the far corner, and Dries Mertens, who had just been substituted, might have done better with a shot from 20 yards.
With 16 minutes left, the score remained unchanged until the same circumstances as the earlier goal that had been disallowed were repeated. Saiss kept his position while moving across Courtois in this instance, which allowed Abdelhamid Sabiri’s cross-come-shot to go straight into the far corner.
In response, Roberto Martinez substituted Romelu Lukaku into the match before his anticipated return from injury, but it was Jan Vertonghen’s header that nearly levelled the score for Belgium.
As Belgium pushed players forward, more room opened up at the other end of the field, which the African nation took advantage of to score the game-winning goal in stoppage time.
A first-time finish by substitute Zakaria Aboukhlal into the roof of Courtois’s net set off jubilant scenes on the field and in the stands after tremendous work from Ziyech gave him space inside the area.
Magnificent Morocco may take pleasure in this moment! The victory over a stiff Belgium team was entirely deserved by the North Africans. Sabiri’s free kick gave the Atlas Lions the lead as the Belgians failed to take heed of Ziyech’s ruled-out goal due to their staunch defensive play. The Red Devils fell silent, and Aboukhlal eliminated them to secure a renowned victory.
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