{"id":760037,"date":"2026-06-25T10:50:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T10:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/760037\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T10:50:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T10:50:25","slug":"morocco-battle-back-to-claim-thumping-world-cup-win-in-six-goal-thriller-with-haiti-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/760037\/","title":{"rendered":"Morocco battle back to claim thumping World Cup win in six-goal thriller with Haiti | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Morocco confirmed their progress to the World Cup last 32 \u2060but twice had to \u2060come from behind to \u200bget the better of plucky Haiti 4-2 in an action-packed game on Wednesday, and fell short of topping Brazil in Group Cs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Morocco finished level on seven points with \u2060the five-time world champions, who beat Scotland 3-0<\/a>, but are runners-up on goal difference and will play the Group F winners \u2013 Japan, the Netherlands or Sweden \u2013 on Monday in the first knockout round.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were looking for first spot in the group, but Haiti had \u200cnothing to lose and played a good transition game, so it was not an easy game for us,\u201d said the coach Mohamed Ouahbi.<\/p>\n

\u201cMorocco has entered a whole new \u2060dimension, and we\u2019re part \u2060of a new \u200bmomentum where we actually need to believe we can take the title.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do we reach this objective? We need to be 100% committed. Today, we have the best ingredients \u2060that are needed to become the best nation, and we believe we can do it; the players \u200bbelieve in it, the same for the \u200cstaff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haiti, the \u2060first side eliminated from the 48-team tournament after losing their second group game, went ahead early but African footballer of the \u200byear Achraf Hakimi equalised in the 39th minute.<\/p>\n

Wilson Isidor\u2019s thunderbolt \u200crestored Haiti\u2019s lead in the 43rd \u200cminute but matters were soon level again after Ismael Saibari scored his third goal in as many World Cup<\/a> appearances.<\/p>\n

It took \u200cuntil the 78th minute for Morocco to go ahead when substitute Soufiane Rahimi thrashed home from close range after Haiti failed to clear a corner and 20-year-old Gessime Yassine made it 4-2 in the last minute.<\/p>\n

Haiti\u2019s Wilson Isidor celebrates scoring their second goal with Lenny Joseph. Photograph: Brett Davis\/IMAGN IMAGES\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Haiti had only pride to play for but made Morocco work for their victory and despite losing all three games at the tournament \u2013 their first in 52 years \u2013 will depart with their reputation enhanced.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe showed that we didn\u2019t steal our spot here,\u201d manager Sebastien Migne said. \u201cWe deserve to be here.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that what \u200cwe gave the fans was good enough for them. Unfortunately, we didn\u2019t get a point, we would have loved to give at least a point to our fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

With vociferous support willing them forward, Haiti opened the scoring after 10 \u200cminutes as Josu\u00e9 Casimir calmly shielded the ball, waiting for Jean-K\u00e9vin Duverne to support him on the wing and carry it into the box before a square pass was audaciously backheeled goalwards by Lenny \u200bJoseph.<\/p>\n

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The goal was initially awarded to the Haiti striker even though his effort looked to be going wide, deflecting in off the back of Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, but it was later changed to become yet another own goal in this tournament.<\/p>\n

Gessime Yassine player profile<\/a><\/p>\n

Haiti\u2019s 38-year-old goalkeeper Johny Placide, playing his last international after 15 years in the team, produced a series of sharp saves to twice deny Ayoub \u2060El Kaabi and Hakimi. But when he parried Bilal El Khannouss\u2019s cross in the 39th minute, Hakimi \u200bbundled it over the \u200bline for the equaliser.<\/p>\n

Duverne set up Isidor \u200bfor his rasping strike from outside the area to put Haiti ahead again.<\/p>\n

Morocco\u2019s response was quicker \u200bthe second time, with Sofyan \u200cAmrabat setting Hakimi off \u200bdown the right flank and \u200bthe captain dragging the ball back for Saibari to slot home.<\/p>\n

Haiti\u2019s defences were eventually breached from a set-piece although they protested vehemently for a foul after Rahimi had controlled the ball before turning and slamming home. Rahimi set up Yassine for a tap-in after Haiti\u2019s defenders stopped playing, believing the ball had gone out of play, but VAR confirmed the goal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Morocco confirmed their progress to the World Cup last 32 \u2060but twice had to \u2060come from behind to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":760038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-760037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/760038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}