Fifa World Cup: Another Upset As Morocco Shock Belgium

Will this be another World Cup of underachievement for Belgium?
15:04, 27 Nov 2022

When this World Cup is assessed, Morocco’s 2-0 upset win over Belgium will not be considered the most seismic result. At previous World Cups it might have been the enduring underdog story. But when Saudi Arabia have stunned Argentina and Japan have shocked Germany, it is in line for the bronze medal at best. But in truth, this victory didn’t play out like an underdog story at all. Morocco looked good value for the three points they took here, often playing the more incisive, purposeful football.

For a World Cup that has thrown up its fair share of shocks and excitement, it has felt like there have been so many halves of tentative, uninspired football. The opening period of this was one such 45 minutes.

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A through ball from Thorgan Hazard found Michy Batshuayi in the Morocco box. Bono raced off his line, in the name of love, to pull off a fine close-quarters save.  Thibaut Courtois would not let the Moroccan stopper steal all the headlines though. Under pressure from Youssef En-Nesyri, he pulled off a turn worthy of a silk-footed midfielder to deposit the striker on his backside.

Morocco were well in this game, particularly heading towards half time. Achraf Hakimi got in behind Thorgan Hazard before blasting a shot over. The Atlas Lions thought they’d taken the lead through a wonderful free kick by Hakim Ziyech. Delivered from what appeared to be a crossing position wide on the right, it flew past Courtois into the net. But VAR is a perennial thief of joy, and the goal was chalked off for an offside in the crowded box.

Morocco started the second half convincingly. Ziyech put a shot too close to Courtois from distance in an early signal of intent. Sofiane Boufal had been making Thomas Meunier’s life miserable all afternoon and a drop of the shoulder took him past the defender. Boufal dragged his shot narrowly wide of the goal in the best chance of the half so far.

The introduction of the great veteran, Dries Mertens, gave Belgium some much-needed impetus. Axel Witsel, another old stager, fed Thorgan Hazard. He laid it off to the Galatasary man, who drew and excellent save from Bono with a driven shot.

After Ziyech’s offside goal in the first half, Morocco were bold enough to try it again. Abdelhamid Sabiri netted from wide on the left, with an even tighter angle than his teammates had endured. Courtois once again didn’t do enough as the ball nestled in his net. This time the VAR officials would not save his considerable blushes as Morocco took a deserved lead.

Romelu Lukaku was brought on for the last ten minutes to try and spur his side on. Belgium’s record goalscorer was injured coming into the tournament, but needs must and the on-loan Inter Milan striker was enlisted. His efforts came to naught in the end, but that was less his fault than that of his misfiring teammates in the previous 80 minutes.

Instead it was Morocco who added to the scoreline. Zakaria Aboukhlal capped a superb, all-action display by lashing home in the comparatively-slim five minutes of injury time. Ziyech’s superb close control created the space for the pass, and Aboukhlal hit the ball like it had personally offended him. The exclamation that this performance deserved for Morocco.

Morocco’s victory puts them in fine fettle going into their final group game, against a Canada team they will feel confident of beating. Belgium have a trickier assignment, as Croatia await. But given they only took a point from their opener, Roberto Martinez’s side will still feel they can qualify for the knockout stage. It isn’t all over for the perennial dark horses just yet.

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