🇹🇭 Morocco 2 Belgium 0

Morocco threw Group F into flux with only its third World Cup win ever—a stunning 2–0 upset victory over Belgium.

There was no doubting the Atlas Lions, particularly in the second half with a pair of goals from substitutes as Abdelhamid Sabiri scored on a free kick in the 73rd while Zakaria Aboukhlal added the second in stoppage time. The win sends Morocco into first place in the group of four points after having drawn 2018 runner-up Croatia.

Belgium wasn’t overly impressive in its first match at the World Cup—a 1–0 win over Canada—and that streak continued against a major underdog in Morocco even with a chance to advance to the knockouts with three points on Sunday.

Yet Morocco had trouble at the start reigning in the Hazard brothers (Eden and Thorgan), who started a World Cup game together for the first time. The duo forced a series of corners early (Belgium recorded four corners in the first 15 minutes) but Morocco withstood the chances with ease. 

In the 19th minute, Thomas Meunier pounced on Morocco’s failure to clear a routine chance, but his shot went directly at the keeper for an easy save. Morocco followed that chance with one of its own when Achraf Hakimi sent his shot from the edge of the box over the crossbar.

Courtois wasn’t bothered for most of the first half, but nearly got himself into trouble by holding the ball for too long at the edge of his goal.

Morocco closed out the first half with a dangerous free kick from Hakim Ziyech that resulted in a shock goal to seemingly take the 1–0 lead. However, a VAR review ruled that a Morocco player was offside as he lunged at the shot in front of Courtois. 

The tempo continued for Morocco, who took the lead in the 73rd minute thanks to Sabiri. Just minutes after coming into the match as a substitute, the Sampdoria midfielder swept a free kick into the area that went untouched and into the back of the net for the 1–0 lead. 

Morocco then added another stunner in the 92nd minute courtesy of another sub in Aboukhlal. After Ziyech burst down the wing, the Chelsea forward found Aboukhlal in the middle of the box with a perfect pass to set up the insurance goal.