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Morocco Subs Strike Late To Earn Shock Win Over Belgium

Reuters/Amanda Perobelli

Abdelhamid Sabiri scored from an audaciously tight angle and fellow substitute Zakaria Aboukhlal added a second in stoppage time as Morocco pulled off a shock 2-0 win over Belgium in World Cup Group F on Sunday (Nov 27).

Sabiri’s free-kick from near the corner flag caught out Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois at the near post as it curled in for a 73rd-minute opening goal.

Aboukhlal’s goal came on the counter-attack, set up by Hakim Ziyech as Belgium were caught pressing forward for the equaliser.

The North Africans also had the ball in the net with the last kick of the first half as Ziyech’s free-kick eluded everyone in the penalty area and caught Courtois unsighted, but a VAR check found skipper Romain Saiss had been just offside.

Morocco moved on to four points from two games with Belgium, second in the world rankings, on three. Canada and Croatia were meeting later in Sunday’s other Group F match.

Reuters

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