Morocco dominates the “strong” group and climbs to the final price of the World Cup

The Moroccan national team crowned its heroic epics in the sixth World Cup, with a historic lead through which it qualified for the final price round competitions, after defeating Canada 2-1 in the last round of the first round of the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar.

The Moroccan national team advanced to the second round of the World Cup for the second time in its history, and achieved its football achievement in the presence of 43,000 fans at Al-Thumama Stadium.

The Moroccan national team advanced with two goals, scored by Hakim Ziyech and Youssef Al-Nusairi in the fourth and 24th minutes, then the Canadian national team’s goal came in the 40th minute, and Moroccan Nayef Akrad scored it by mistake in his team’s goal.

The Moroccan team started its campaign in the strong group with a goalless draw with its Croatian counterpart, the runner-up of the 2018 World Cup, then defeated its Belgian counterpart 2-0 (the third World Cup 2018), and beat Canada to lead its group with seven points.

The Croatian team qualified from second place in the group, after raising its score to five points in a goalless draw with its Belgian counterpart.

Modric, captain of Croatia, celebrates his country’s qualification to the second round (Reuters)

The Moroccan national team achieved its first victory against a non-European team in the World Cup, as it had fought 18 previous matches in the World Cup, including four against non-European teams, all of which it lost.

The Moroccan national team also achieved the third victory in its record of confrontations against its Canadian counterpart, as it brought them together in three previous matches that saw two victories for Morocco against one draw, while yesterday’s match was the first between them in the World Cup.

As for the Canadian national team, which participated in the World Cup for the second time in its history after the 1986 edition, it lost all its six matches in the record of its World Cup meetings, and its past five defeats came against European teams.

Walid Regragui, the coach of the Moroccan national team, pushed a starting lineup that included Yassine Bounou, Ashraf Hakimi, Nayef Akred, Roman Sayess, Naseer Mazraoui, Ezzedine Onahi, Sofiane Amrabat, Abdelhamid Sabry, Hakim Ziyech, Youssef Al-Nusairi and Sofiane Boufal.

Canada coach John Herdman pushed a starting lineup that included Milan Bourienne, Alastair Johnston, Stephen Vitoria, Kemal Miller, Samuel Adekogbe, Jonathan Osorio, Marc Anthony Kaye, Alphonso Davies, Tajon Buchanan, Syle Larraine and David.

The match started with a clear offensive ambition on the part of the Moroccan national team, which ignited the confrontation with an early goal. In the fourth minute, the Canadian defense made a fatal mistake, so that Youssef Al-Nusairi extracted the ball in the penalty area, and goalkeeper Milan Burian came out of his goal and tried to clear the ball, but he pushed it to Ziyach, who took advantage of the opportunity and hit the ball. into the net, announcing Morocco’s progress 1 – zero.

Youssef Al-Nusairi after scoring Morocco’s second goal against Canada (AP)

The Moroccan team gained a huge boost with the early goal and pressed hard in search of extending its lead, but the Canadian team tried to regain its balance quickly and enter the atmosphere of the match again.

Despite the Moroccan national team’s superiority in possession and attack, the Canadian national team almost snatched a draw in the 15th minute, as Syle Larrin made a wonderful start and passed the Moroccan defenders, then crossed in front of the goal to Tajon Buchanan, but the latter did not pay it as required.

The Canadian national team intensified its presence in the match with the passage of time and made more than one offensive attempt, but the Moroccan team dealt with confidence and calm with the opponent’s attempts.

In the 23rd minute, the Moroccan national team strengthened its lead with the second goal, as Ashraf Hakimi sent a longitudinal pass to Youssef Al-Nusairi, who set off brilliantly and then aimed a powerful ball from inside the penalty area that hit Canada’s net, announcing Morocco’s progress 2-0.

Morocco’s second goal clearly confused the Canadian team, as the team seemed unable to rearrange its cards and its performance was characterized by randomness for minutes.

In the last minutes of the first half, the Canadian national team tried to impose its control on the ball, hoping to reduce the difference before the end of the first half.

A snapshot from the Morocco-Canada match (Reuters)

In the 40th minute, the Canadian national team responded with a goal, as Adiogbe hit a powerful creeping ball that Nayef Akrad tried to stop, but he mistakenly directed it into his country’s net, announcing that Morocco’s progress was reduced to 2-1.

In the last seconds of the first half, Youssef Al-Nusairi put the ball into Canada’s net after a free kick that Ziyash hit, and the Canadian defense failed to respond to it as required, but the referee did not consider it a goal due to the presence of offside, and the remaining seconds of the first half did not result in a new one, to end with Morocco advancing 2 – 1.

With the start of the second half, the confrontation seemed more balanced with the continued supremacy of the Moroccan team, but the two teams raised the degree of defensive caution.

With the passage of the first minutes of the second half, the Canadian national team intensified its possession of the ball and besieged its opponent in the middle of its stadium, waiting for the opportunity, but it had difficulty penetrating the Moroccan defense.

Alfonso Davies almost equalized for the Canadian national team in the 58th minute, as he received a cross and hit the ball directly with a skillful touch, but it passed next to the post.

Although the Canadian national team did not have any chance to continue the journey in the World Cup, after losing in the first and second rounds, the team was very determined not to go out empty-handed, and intensified its offensive attempts in light of its superiority in possession during the second half.

And in the 77th minute, Al-Rakraki made two more substitutions, as he included Abdel-Razzak Hamdallah and Jawad Al-Yamiq instead of Hakim Ziyech and Onahi.

The Moroccans recorded a historic presence at Al-Thumama Stadium in Qatar (Reuters)

And the offensive attempts continued, a record between the two teams, in an attempt by the Moroccan national team to secure its victory and ensure qualification from the top of the group, and Canada’s desire to score its first point in the history of the World Cup.

Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bono made a fatal mistake in catching the ball in the 88th minute, and Alfonso Davies almost pounced on it in front of the goal, but Bono corrected the error at the right moment.

The Canadian national team attacked fiercely during the last seconds, hoping for a draw, but all its attempts failed, and the match ended with Morocco winning 2-1 and qualifying for the second round.

The second match between Croatia and Belgium came quickly at its start by the Croatian national team, which initiated an offensive attempt in the first minute of the match when the ball reached Ivan Perisic, who hit a powerful ball from inside the penalty area, but his ball passed far from the goal.

But the Croatian national team retreated after that attack, so that the Belgian national team regained its balance after the confusion with which the match began, and it took possession of the ball, but failed to form any real danger to the goal of the Croatian national team, except for a single attack, which was in the 13th minute, when Kevin De Bruyne launched and passed a through ball to Drais. Mertens inside the penalty area, to meet it with a direct shot, but his ball went over the crossbar.

With the start of the second half, the game became a record between the two teams in search of scoring the goal of progress.

Lukaku missed the opportunity to score the winning goal in the last minute of the match, when Thorgan Hazard passed a cross from inside the penalty area, which Levakovic failed to clear, but the ball hit Lukaku’s chest inside the six-yard area before Levakovic grabbed it from the goal line.