Morocco advanced to the World Cup Round of 16 after a nervy encounter and a win over the Netherlands in a Round of 32 match on Tuesday.
The Atlas Lions will now face Canada, one of the three co-hosts, after a 3-2 penalty shootout win. The tie ended in a 1-1 draw in extra time, pushing the game into the shootouts, and the North Africans weathered the storm to progress to the next knockout stage.
How the game unfolded
The Netherlands survived a number of attacks from Morocco; goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen produced a series of outstanding saves to deny Ayoub Bouaddi’s close-range header and Neil El Aynaoui’s powerful effort.
At the other end, Yassine Bounou was finally called into action to parry Micky van de Ven’s long-range strike.
Hakimi was denied when he rattled the crossbar and forced another save from Verbruggen. With the Netherlands struggling to contain a Moroccan side firing from all cylinders, Ronald Koeman introduced Wout Weghorst to give his side a much-needed focal point in attack.
The former Manchester United forward brought life again to the Dutch side as he won a flick-on that released Summerville, whose persistence created the opening for Gakpo to sweep a first-time finish beyond Bounou in the 72nd minute.
Liverpool defender and captain Virgil van Dijk produced a crucial intervention to deny Ismael Saibari as Morocco intensified their attack, looking for a much-needed equalizer.
The Dutch were pegged back when substitute Chemsdine Talbi delivered a pinpoint cross from the left, and Issa Diop rose above Van Dijk to power a stoppage-time header beyond Verbruggen, consequently sending the match into extra time.
There was no winner in the extra 30 minutes, and the teams proceeded to the penalty shootout.
Dramatic penalty shootout
Morocco’s Neil El Aynaoui and Dutch substitute Justin Kluivert missed their attempts before Bart Verbruggen appeared to save Soufiane Rahimi’s effort, only for the ball to slide underneath him and cross over the line.
Mersaille star Quinten Timber sent his effort wide with the Dutch side’s fourth kick, and Achraf Hakimi struck the post with the chance to seal victory for the Moroccans.
Saibari was the man of the moment as the man who scored against Brazil, converting the winning spot kick after Yassine Bounou saved Crysencio Summerville’s penalty.
