Morocco celebrates second trip to round of 16
WORLD CUP
MOROCCO 2, CANADA 1
DOHA, Qatar — Walid Regragui stood in the middle of a team huddle as his players reached out and patted him vigorously on the head. Then they threw their coach in the air, almost as if they had already won the World Cup.
Regragui has been an international coach for only three months but still guided Morocco to the last 16 of the World Cup for only the second time in its history with a 2-1 win over Canada on Thursday. It clinched first place in Group F for Morocco, ahead of 2018 finalist Croatia and semifinalist Belgium.
Regragui’s squad has now collected more victories at a single World Cup than any other Morocco team.
No one thought that was likely when the Moroccan soccer federation took a gamble on the 47-year-old Regragui in August by giving him his first job in charge of a national team. The payoff has been historic.
“About 50 or 60 years of Moroccan history. We’ve done it in a few weeks,” Regragui said.
Morocco’s two wins in Qatar, a huge surprise over Kevin de Bruyne and No. 2-ranked Belgium and then the victory over Canada at Al Thumama Stadium, is as many as the country had won in all its previous World Cup appearances put together. Morocco also drew its opener against Croatia to advance unbeaten.
“We trust in him,” Morocco defender Achraf Hakimi said of Regragui. “He’s done an amazing job with not much time.”
The Moroccans’ only previous trip past the group stage at a World Cup had come in 1986, when they also won their group, but won only one match.
Goals by Hakim Ziyech and Youssef En-Nesyri delivered the victory over Canada and ensured this team also went through.
Nayef Aguerd’s own-goal just before halftime made it 2-1 and lifted Canada enough for them to put pressure on Morocco in search of an equalizing goal for most of the second half.
The Canadians came agonizingly close when a header from captain Atiba Hutchinson, who came on as a second-half substitute, bounced down off the crossbar and onto the goal-line.
Replays showed part of the ball had crossed the line but not all of it.
“Two inches. Two inches form getting our first result,” Canada Coach John Herdman said. “This isn’t Canada walking away with our heads down. We can keep our heads up.”
But even when his team’s total control suddenly disappeared, Regragui was happy with the fighting spirit.
“I loved the second half because that’s the spirit we were looking for,” he said. “First half, extraordinary. Second half, we fought.”
GERMANY 4, COSTA RICA 2
AL KHOR, Qatar — Germany was eliminated from the group stage of the World Cup for the second tournament in a row.
The four-time champions beat Costa Rica but it wasn’t enough to reach the round of 16. Japan’s 2-1 victory over Spain in the other group game allowed both of those teams to advance instead, with the Japanese team finishing at the top of Group E.
“I was just in the changing room and as you can imagine, the disappointment is huge,” Germany Coach Hansi Flick said.
Playing as defending champions at the last World Cup, Germany also was knocked out in the group stage.
Germany, which lost to Japan in its opening match in Qatar, needed help from the other match in order to advance with a victory at Al Bayt Stadium, but things didn’t go its way. If Spain had beaten Japan, the Germans would have finished second in the group.
JAPAN 2, SPAIN 1
DOHA, Qatar — Same stadium. Same result. Similar shocking victory for Japan at the World Cup.
After beating Germany 2-1 in its opener, Japan found its way into the round of 16 of the World Cup by defeating Spain by the same score in its last group game.
Spain also advanced despite the loss. Japan scored twice early in the second half to come from behind and defeat another European powerhouse and make it to the knockout stage for the second consecutive time. It was the first time Japan has advanced past the group stage in back-to-back tournaments.
Ao Tanaka scored the winning goal from close range early in the second half. It took about two minutes for video review officials to confirm the ball hadn’t gone out of bounds before the goal that gave Japan the win at Khalifa International Stadium, which is where Japan had shocked Germany in its opener.
BELGIUM 0, CROATIA 0, TIE
AL RAYYAN, Qatar — The win and a place in the round of 16 at the World Cup was there for Belgium. All the team needed was for Romelu Lukaku to score as the ball reached him in front of goal in the final seconds. Somehow, he missed.
Belgium and its aging generation of players were eliminated after a 0-0 draw with Croatia, which advanced as the second-place team in Group F behind Morocco.
While Croatia — the 2018 runner-up and a 1998 semifinalist — aims for another deep run at the World Cup, Belgium is facing the breakup of its talented but underachieving squad after failing to live up to its status as the second-ranked team and one of the tournament favorites.
Lukaku, who came on as a halftime substitute and squandered several great chances, punched the side of the dugout as he walked off, knocking the plexiglass screen out of place.
Not only did he fail to guide in that late chance from close range, he hit a shot against the post with the goal beckoning. Another chance, from a header in front of goal, sailed over the bar, but it’s not clear if the goal would have counted.
What has long been called Belgium’s “Golden Generation” — now featuring six players with more than 100 appearances — is set to split with the World Cup semifinal appearance in 2018 as its peak.