[골닷컴] Correspondent Kang Dong-hoon = Morocco shattered all experts’ expectations and managed to advance to the round of 16. It has been 36 years since the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, and it is the second knockout stage in history. It is also significant in that he beat the top competitors in Group F and managed to advance to the round of 16 in first place.
According to Opta, a real sports statistics company, the probability that Morocco would go to the round of 16 was only 29.3%. However, after drawing 0-0 with Croatia, Morocco surprise defeated Belgium 2-0 and managed to advance to the round of 16 by conquering Canada on the same day.
Morocco won 2-1 in their final 2022 FIFA World Cup Group F match Qatar against Canada held at Al Tumama Stadium in Doha, Qatar at 0:00 (Korean time) on the 2nd.
Morocco, winners that day, progressed to the round of 16 to take first place in Group F (W2, D1, 5 points). This is the first time in Morocco’s history that they have won two matches in the group stage of the World Cup. Not only that, they only have 2 total victories in the last 5 World Cups. He is literally writing a new story in this competition.
Coach Walid Legraghi (France) opted for a 4-3-3. Sophia Bupal (Angers), Youssef En Nesiri (Seville) and Hakim Ziyech (Chelsea) competed as the top three. Abdelhamid Sabiri (Huddersfield), Sofiang Amrabat (Fiorentina) and Azzedine Unahi (Angers) held the back.
From left, Nusair Mazrawi (Bayern Munich), Romain Sais (Besiktas), Naif Aguerde (West Ham United) and Ashraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain) form the backline. The goalkeeper gloves were worn by Yasin Bono (Sevilla).
Against this, Canada came out with a 4-4-2 formation. At the forefront were Junior Hoillet (Reading) and Kyle Larin (Club Brugge). Alfonso Davies (Bayern Munich), Marc-Anthony Kay, Jonathan Osorio (Above Toronto) and Stephen Vittoria (Chávez) have applied. The goal was defended by Milan Borjan (Zvezda).
As expected, Morocco, whose mood was far ahead, soon took the lead. In the 4th minute of the first half, in the defensive field, in addition to Victoria’s back pass error, goalkeeper Milan Borjan also committed mishandling of the ball, and Ziyech calmly pushed it into an empty net with a left footed shot.
Morocco riding the flow scored one more goal. In the 23rd minute of the first half, Hakimi, who was in defense, immediately connected a long pass forward with precision, and En Nesiri, who quickly penetrated between the defensive lines and took the ball, rebounded into the net with a powerful shot.
But Canada wasn’t that bad. With a lucky comeback goal, they closed the gap and went in pursuit. In the 40th minute of the first half, Sam Adekibi’s (Hataispor) cross hit Aguerd’s foot and led to an own goal. The first half ends with Morocco leading 2-1.
Manager John Herdman (England) filled in first. 15′ into the second half, Ativa Hutchinson (Besiktas), Ismael Corne (Montreal) and Jonathan David (Lille) replaced Larin, Adeburki and Kay. Morocco has also chosen to change. 20′ into the second half Bupal and Sabiri were removed and Zakaria Abukral (Toulouse) and Selim Amala (Standard Liège) were added.
Going on midway through the second half, there was a lull and each other didn’t get a chance to shoot. Not even points were scored. In the end, there was no change in the score in the remaining time and the match ended with Morocco winning 2-1. Morocco progressed to the round of 16 and Canada were eliminated from the group stage.
