Morocco stun Belgium to claim long-awaited World Cup win

DOHA, (Reuters) - Morocco claimed their first World Cup victory in 24 years as they upset a hugely disappointing Belgium side 2-0 with goals by Romain Saiss and substitute Zakaria Aboukhlal in a boiling atmosphere yesterday.

The Morocco fans gave the match a vintage World Cup feel at the Al Thumama Stadium and Sabiri curled a wide free kick past Thibaut Courtois before Aboukhlal netted in added time to put Morocco top of Group F with four points, one ahead of Belgium.

It was Morocco’s first win at a World Cup since they beat Scotland in 1998. They left the 2018 tournament with a single point.

“We played against one of the best teams in the world with big players, but we know that if you don’t give 100%, it is impossible to win. With these players and these fans, anything is possible,” said Morocco coach Walid Regregui, whose team have not conceded a goal in five games since he took over in September.

Belgium, who had scraped a 1-0 win over Canada in their opening game, again looked a pale shadow of the team who finished third in 2018 and climbed to second in the world rankings. They must now battle for a last-16 spot against Croatia.

“It’s a difficult result. We couldn’t get our game going. It’s a game we need to understand; we need to be together and react. That’s what happens at the World Cup,” said Belgium coach Roberto Martinez.

The Red Devils’ poor display even forced Martinez to send Romelu Lukaku on for the last 10 minutes in a desperate attempt to salvage a point, even though the burly striker had been struggling with a hamstring problem.

Croatia, who have a point from their draw with Morocco, play Canada in the other Group F game later on Sunday.

In a lively start, Morocco looked happy to sit and wait amid the deafening whistles of their fans, although bouts of intense pressing led to a couple of dangerous counter-attacks with Ziyech the main threat.