Doha, 28 November 2022 (TDI): Moroccan Atlas Lions faced off against the Red Devils of Belgium at Al Thumama stadium in Doha, on Sunday afternoon. The tournament witnessed Morocco’s side snatching victory with a 2-0 win over Belgium.
This spectacular victory comes as a shock to football fans internationally as it is the first World Cup victory for Morocco in over 24 years.
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Moreover, this is only Morocco’s third win in World Cup history with the first being in 1986 by beating Portugal 3-1. Their opening game of FIFA 2022 was with Croatia and it finished off with a 0-0 tie.
On the other hand, Belgium is ranked number 2 in the world after Brazil as the football champion. It has some world-record scorers including Eden Hazard, Kebin de Bruyne, and Romelu Lukaku.
They had won the last seven group games at the World Cup before this game. After getting the huge win, the head coach of the Moroccan team, Walid Regragui said that the win shows how his team is capable of doing everything.
“Football is all about efficiency,” the coach said, emphasizing that the national team has not accomplished anything yet. However, he stressed that the Atlas Lions are determined to put in more effort in their next match against Canada on 1st December.
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Highlights
Belgium had dominated possession for most of the first half of the match. But after some time it seems like Belgian players were not in great shape and Moroccans soon overpower them.
Now Moroccan player Abdelhamid Sabiri got the ball rolling. He was hardly five minutes into the game when Morocco won a free kick. He took the Belgium goalkeeper out of surprise and shot right past him into the net, giving Morocco their first goal.
Leading by 1-0 now, the long ball from goalkeeper Monir Mohamedi caught out the Belgians and the ball found its way to Zakaria Aboukhlal.
He in turn guided a shot into the roof of the net off a pass from Hakim Ziyech in a record time, sealing the victory of Morocco in the 92nd minute.
At this, the 44,000-capacity venue largely filled with pro-Moroccan fans cheered and screamed to show support for their team. Their team clearly gave them a euphoric night to remember.
It is pertinent to note that this victory gave a rise to Morocco from the third position to the top of Group F among Belgium, Canada, and Croatia. The team will now advance to the next Round of 16.
