Never Mind Own Goals! Morocco reaches the top 16 after 36 years!
Morocco can be called the most surprising dark horse in this World Cup! The last runner-up Croatia and the third runner-up Belgium were kicked and lost against Morocco successively, which took fans and experts around the world by surprise. In the final round of the Group F group stage, Morocco faced Canada. Although the former scored the first own goal of the year, they still defeated their opponents 2-1 and advanced to the top 16 again with a record of 2 wins and 1 draw.
Before the game, the world was optimistic that Belgium and Croatia, the two powerhouses that have been ranked second in the world for a long time, can join hands to enter the round of 16. But the beauty of football is that you never know what will happen in the end. Looking back at this game, Hakim Ziyech scored the first goal in the 4th minute of Morocco’s start; Youssef En-Nesyri drove straight in and broke through the defense in the 23rd minute, pulling the score to 2-0. But the biggest highlight of the game was the first own goal in the World Cup in the 40th minute, allowing Canada to chase the score to 2-1.
After Morocco won, it not only advanced to the round of 16 as the first place in the group but also advanced to the knockout round of the round of 16 for the second time since the World Cup in Mexico in 1986. In addition, Morocco also set a record, becoming the second African team in the history of the World Cup to advance to the round of 16 twice as the first in the group stage.