December 01, (THEWILL) – After defeating Canada 2-1 on Thursday, Morocco became the first African team to win a World Cup group in 24 years, after the exploits of Nigeria in 1998.
Hakim Ziyech and Youssef En-Nesyri’s goals in the first half, along with Nayef Aguerd’s tournament-opening own goal, were sufficient to give Morocco the victory. Canada went home empty-handed, unable to muster as much as a single point.
Morocco will now wait until the Group E games on Thursday to find out which runner-up they will play on Tuesday at the Education City Stadium as winners of Group F.
Walid Regragui’s team got the perfect start early in the game, giving them all they needed to secure the points necessary to advance to the knockout rounds for just the second time in their history and first time since 1986.
Despite their best efforts, Canada equals El Salvador’s World Cup finals record by losing all six of their opening matches. Now they must focus on 2026, the year the tournament will be played on home soil.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
