Saibari Fires Morocco Into Last 16
Morocco knocked the Netherlands out of the World Cup on Monday night, winning a tense penalty shootout 3-2 in Guadalupe near Monterrey after the round of 32 tie finished 1-1 following extra time, sending the Atlas Lions into a last 16 meeting with Canada in Houston on Saturday.
Ismael Saibari scored the decisive goal in the shootout, sending the Netherlands to its earliest World Cup exit. With the shootout level at 2-2 after four rounds, Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou pushed away Crysencio Summerville’s attempt with his left hand, and Saibari then sent the winner into the low left corner as goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen dived the other way.
The shootout itself was a study in nerves. Neil El Aynaoui, Morocco’s first taker, struck the crossbar, before Justin Kluivert hit the post with the Dutch’s second kick. Quinten Timber then missed everything with his attempt, and Achraf Hakimi struck the post, before Bounou’s save set up Saibari’s winner.
The result extends one of the more striking shifts in the modern game. The Netherlands had reached at least the round of 16 in 11 previous World Cups, including a quarter-final appearance in Qatar four years ago, the very tournament where Morocco made its breakthrough run to the semi-finals. That 2022 campaign made Morocco the first African and first Arab nation to reach a World Cup semi-final, and Monday’s win suggests that run was no accident.
In regulation, the Netherlands looked the likelier winners. Cody Gakpo put them ahead in the second half, the Liverpool forward playing just days after his partner confirmed the death of the couple’s unborn son. He sank to the turf and appeared overcome as team-mates gathered round him. But Morocco refused to fold. Issa Diop, unmarked, headed home from Chemsdine Talbi’s cross in stoppage time to force extra time, his first international goal for the Atlas Lions.
The match was fractious throughout, with Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio struggling to calm flying tackles from both sides. Saibari was fortunate to escape sanction after catching Jan Paul van Hecke with an elbow in the first half. Verbruggen kept the Dutch alive with sharp saves from Hakimi and a jaw-dropping stop to deny Soufiane Rahimi in the 96th minute, but could not stop the rot once the shootout arrived.
The exit fits a wider pattern at this expanded World Cup, the first to field 48 teams and to stage a 32-side knockout round. Germany had already fallen to Paraguay on penalties, and the new round of 32 has drawn criticism even as it produces fiercely contested ties. Established European powers are finding the early knockout games unforgiving, while sides once labelled outsiders are thriving.
For Morocco, coached by Walid Regragui, the reward is a last 16 tie against co-hosts Canada, who have ridden a wave of home support through the group stage. The Atlas Lions will fancy their chances. Few squads at this tournament carry as much knockout pedigree built over the past four years, and in Bounou they have a goalkeeper who has now decided more than one shootout on the biggest stage. The semi-finalists of 2022 are quietly building another deep run.