Kenneth AFOR, LAGOS
Belgium who are ranked as the second best team in the world on Sunday afternoon were beaten 2-0 by Morocco at the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
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The Belgians lacklustre performance in their previous game against Canada continued which was visible seeing losing.
Morocco on the other hand were of a more better side despite a goalless draw in the first half but their consistency and confidence paid off as they got a breakthrough in the 73rd minute courtesy Abdelhamid Sabiri’s carbon-copy free-kick to Hakim Ziyech’s earlier to give the Atlas Lion the lead.
Morocco doubled the lead with just two minutes of extra time left when the Toulouse forward, Zakaria Aboukhlal, fires into the roof of the net from Ziyech’s cutback sealing the victory over Belgium 2-0.
It is now on record that Sabiri opener was Morocco’s first ever direct free-kick goal at the World Cup and the first direct free-kick goal by any nation at World Cup 2022.
Earlier on, Japan allowed Costa Rica to be in contention for the knockout stage in Group E after they were beaten 0-1 by the South American.
The qualification for the next round is open for Spain, Japan and Costa as they prepare for the final group matches in the coming days.
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