With merit and deservingness in the literal sense of the word, the Moroccan national team succeeded in eliminating its Dutch counterpart from the round of 32 in the World Cup, in the football epic that brought them together at the “Monterrey” stadium, and its original and extra time ended with a draw with one goal in each net, before Ashraf Hakimi and his companions snatched the ticket to the round of 16, with the help of penalty kicks.
The match began with mutual caution and a clear confinement of play to the midfield, with a relative advantage for the European team in terms of possession, but without a real threat to goalkeeper Yassine Bounou’s goal, except for the cross sent by Dumfries from the right side, which the Moroccan defense cleared with excellence in the 14th minute.
The face of the Atlas Lions changed with the return of the players from the first cooling period, and this was evident in the raids launched by the men of coach Mohamed Wahbi on the goalkeeper of the Orange Mills, Bart Verbruggen. It began with a powerful header launched by Nael El Aynaoui from beyond the six-yard box, but the goalkeeper saved it brilliantly, before Ismail Saibari wasted another easy opportunity, by being late in reaching the cross ball that passed in front of the goal in a strange way.
Before the players went to the dressing room at halftime, captain Achraf Hakimi had a golden opportunity inside the penalty area to fire a rocket shot to the left of the goalkeeper, but he continued to shine by deflecting the ball to a corner kick that was not exploited. In contrast, coach Ronald Koeman's team only managed one shot, fired by Van de Veen from the edge of the penalty area, which Bono saved with an amazing reaction.
As expected, Morocco started the second half where the first half ended, with tremendous pressure on the Dutch defense, to snatch the goal that would qualify them for the round of 16. If it weren't for the wooden boards' sympathy with goalkeeper Verbruggen, Morocco would have taken the lead through Hakimi in the 55th minute.
Contrary to the course of the match, the Dutch team managed to snatch the lead goal through a quick counter-attack led by Crescencio Summerville, with a daring run from the middle of the field, until he fell to the ground, and with that he gifted the ball to Liverpool star Cody Gakpo, who made the most of the gift, by shooting a low ball that settled in Bono’s net, announcing the Dutch team’s lead in the score in the first attempt after the second cooling period.
After a series of daring attempts, the beautiful game finally smiled on Achraf Hakimi's teammates, thanks to a perfect cross from substitute Chemseddine Talbi, which landed on the head of defender Issa Diop, who met the ball with a header in the style of top strikers, bringing his country back to the World Cup in stoppage time.
The Moroccan advantage continued into extra time, which saw another opportunity that would have secured the Lions' qualification, but the Dutch goalkeeper brilliantly saved the clear one-on-one between him and substitute Soufiane Rahimi, forcing both teams to resort to penalty kicks, which ultimately smiled on the Atlas Lions.
