Morocco survived a major scare from Haiti before claiming a 4-2 win on Wednesday, twice coming from behind to book their place in the FIFA World Cup Round of 32.Substitutes Sofiane Rahimi and Jassim Yassin played crucial roles late in the match and scored decisive goals to end Morocco’s hopes of Haiti obtaining its first ever point in the tournament.
Haiti is making history with early achievements
In the World Cup finals for only the second time and the first since 1974, Haiti stunned the African champions in the tenth minute. Lenny Joseph received a pass at the near post and cleverly passed the ball past goalkeeper Yacine Bounou.The goal had historical significance, as Joseph Haiti became the first player to score a goal in a World Cup since Emmanuel Sanon, who scored more than five decades ago.
Al-Hakimi responds, but Haiti strikes again
Morocco dominated possession after falling behind and eventually equalized six minutes before the end of the first half.
Achraf Hakimi converted a penalty kick after Haiti goalkeeper Johnny Placid failed to fully deal with Bilal Al-Khannous’s cross.
The level score did not last long. Just four minutes later, Wilson Isidore restored Haiti’s lead with a stunning long-range shot that found the top corner, leaving Bono no chance.
Saibari levels before the end of the first half
There is still one more twist in the first half. In stoppage time, Ismail Saibari finished off a cross from Hakimi to make it 2-2 before the end of the first half.
This was Saibari’s third goal in the tournament and ensured that Morocco remained level despite the difficult first 45 minutes.
Second half substitutions confirm the victory
Morocco increased its pressure after the break and finally took control in the final minutes. Rahimi, who came off the bench, put his side ahead in the 78th minute when his shot deflected into the net.
As Haiti advanced in search of an equalizer, Yacine finished the match with a goal in the 89th minute, completing the comeback and ensuring Morocco’s passage to the knockout rounds.
Morocco through Haiti bends
With this victory, Morocco ranked second in Group C, behind Brazil, which defeated Scotland 3-0 in the other match in the group. Morocco will now face the Group F runner-up – the Netherlands, Japan or Sweden – in Guadalajara.Despite the defeat, Haiti received praise for pushing one of the tournament’s contenders to the end and coming close to pulling off one of the tournament’s biggest upsets.After the match, midfielder Bilal Khanous admitted that Morocco were not at their best early on.“Sometimes we lacked humility and we paid the price for that. We were not fully committed in the duels, we gave them confidence and allowed them to develop in the game and they scored two goals. In the first half, the coach told us that we needed to be more aggressive, win second balls and bring more intensity to our attacking play.”