World Cup: Morocco’s incredible journey to third-place battle

Morocco may not have reached the World Cup final but the players and supporters can take pride in the fact that they will leave Qatar…

Not many would have predicted Morocco to advance from the group consisting of 2018 runners-up, Croatia, and semi-finalist, Belgium in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. But not only did they qualify for the Round of 16 – making it to the knockouts of a FIFA World Cup for only the second time – they also ended up topping the group.

The Moroccans marched on as their watertight defence simply would not be breached by either Spain or Portugal in the Round of 16 and quarter-final respectively, making history by becoming the first African side to reach the last four of the tournament and only the third non-European/South American side to reach the semi-finals.

Daily Trust chronicles the journey of the North African team to the semi-finals of the biggest football fiesta below.

Morocco vs Croatia, (Group F first match)
Morocco’s first match was against a highly motivated Croatia. Croatia, who reached the final for the first time ever in Russia four years ago, were hoping to better that achievement in Qatar. Hence, it was not an easy encounter. Luka Modric-inspired Croatia started as the favourites in the clash at the Al Bayt Stadium and were expected to take home all three points to get their campaign off to an ideal start.

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However, Morocco showed they were not in Qatar to make up the numbers, revealing an early glimpse into their stubborn defence that would go on to become a defining part of their campaign. They held off the Croatians to a goalless draw despite the Europeans having the lion’s share of possession (65 per cent).

Morocco vs Belgium (Group F second match)
After the goalless draw against Croatia, Morocco were up against the second-ranked team in the world, Belgium. It was expected to be an easy win for the Belgians who fielded a star-studded team. However, Morocco would go on to pull off the first of their multiple giant-killing acts of the campaign by beating the Eden Hazard-led side.

After their defensive display against Croatia, the African team decided to showcase their attacking prowess in this game by pouncing on the opportunities created as a result of Belgium’s sloppiness at the Al Thumama Stadium.

Substitute, Abdelhamid Sabiri’s free-kick put the Moroccans ahead in the 73rd minute before Zakaria Aboukhlal doubled the lead in stoppage time to give Morocco a shocking win.

Morocco vs Canada (Group F third match)
Canada were an easier opposition and the Moroccans didn’t waste the opportunity to announce their intention at the football Mundial. Walid Regragui’s men went on to score one of the quickest goals of the tournament via Chelsea midfielder, Hakim Ziyech’s fourth-minute strike after an error by the Canadian goalkeeper, Milan Borjan.

Youssef En Nesyri would then double the lead in the 23rd minute. An own goal by Nayef Aguerd shortly before the half-time whistle almost brought the Canadian team back to the game but Morocco’s defensive prowess came into display once more, ensuring they finished top of their group heading into the knockout stage.

Morocco vs Spain (Round of 16)
Morroco were up against a slick Spanish side in the Round of 16 in their first World Cup knockout match in more than three decades, and many analysts had already predicted the ouster of the African side, especially after Spain had whitewashed Costa Rica 7-0 in one of their group fixtures.

However, the 2010 world champions were held for 120 minutes with the game heading to a penalty shootout.

La Roja dominated possession throughout regulation time (77 per cent with 13 attempted shots) but simply were not able to provide the finishing in the final third as they were thwarted by the Romain Saiss-led defence every time.

Spain boss, Luis Enrique, had earlier revealed that his side had practised penalty kicks about a thousand times after losing 3-4 on penalties against hosts Russia in 2018 after finishing 1-1 at the end of extra time.

However, all that training came down to nought as they were unable to put the ball past Yassine Bounou even once during the shootout, which the Moroccans won 3-0 to become the first Arab nation to qualify for the quarters.

Morocco vs Portugal (Quarter-final)
Portugal, who had dismissed Switzerland 6-1 in their Round of 16 encounter were favourites to beat Morocco and proceed to the semi-finals. The Moroccans had lost two key defenders ahead of the clash, with Romain Saiss getting stretched off early in the second half to compound their woes. But the Africans were not going to be discouraged as they fought on to triumph against the former European champions.

En Nesyri had put the side ahead with a towering header towards the end of the first half and the Moroccans defended their lead to the end. The Portuguese tried to mount several challenges, especially after Cristiano Ronaldo was introduced early in the second half but there was no way back into the game for the Europeans.

With the unexpected win, the Moroccans created history by becoming the first African team to reach the last four of the World Cup.

Morocco vs France (Semi-final)
Morocco’s stunning run was halted by defending champions, France, with a 2-0 win at the Al Bayt Stadium in the semi-final game on Wednesday night.

The North African side were given a reality check in the 4th minute when left-back Theo Hernadez scrambled onto the ball to open the scoring and in the process set a record for the fastest goal scored in a World Cup semi-final since 1958.

Morocco also lost the clearly unfit Romain Saiss to injury before half-time but came close to drawing level, especially when Jawad El Yamiq’s overhead kick was kept out by a combination of the post and France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

In the second half, the Moroccans completely dominated the match, wasting many chances but the French were brilliant defensively.

In the 80th minute, Randal Kolo Muaniwas, who had joined the party 44 seconds earlier, connected to Kylian Mbappe’s pass after a mazy run to make it 2-0.

The pride
Morocco may not have reached the World Cup final but the players and supporters can take pride in the fact that they will leave Qatar having played seven games, a first for any African nation, coach Walid Regragui said on Friday.

This defeat notwithstanding, Morocco still have the opportunity to leave Qatar on a high when they take on Croatia in the third-place match on Saturday and even if they should lose against Croatia, this has been a remarkable journey they would be proud of.

Regragui said: “I understand it’s important to finish third rather than fourth, but my takeaway is we didn’t reach the final… We wanted to play the final on Sunday, not play tomorrow [saturday].

“But I told my players this is our seventh World Cup game. If you told any Morocco fan we would be playing our seventh game on December 17, they would be proud.

“Morocco played six World Cup games in 20-odd years and now we’ve played six games in a month – this is priceless. It’s as if we played two World Cups or even more, that’s beautiful from an experience point of view.”