Pinned
Link copied
Netherlands 2, Morocco 3
Some blood no problem, Ismael Saibari wins it with his professional take that sends the keeper the wrong way as Morocco marches on.
In a dramatic, unbelievable penalty shootout, Morocco live to fight on at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Africans got by the Dutch on Monday in the round of 32, beating them in a miss-filled shootout, 3-2. Ismael Saibari scored the winning kick, finishing low and to the left.
Neil El Aynaoui, Morocco's first taker, hit the crossbar, only to then see Justin Kluivert hit the post on the Dutch's second kick. Then, after converting again, Quinten Timber and Achraf Hakimi both missed, the Dutchman missing wide and the PSG star hitting the post before Yassine Bounou made a clutch save in goal, setting up Saibari's winner.
Before the shootout, the match ended 1-1 after 90 minutes of regulation, and no goals were found in the 30 minutes of extra time.
In regulation, the Netherlands' Cody Gakpo scored an emotional goal in the 72nd minute, but Issa Diop scored his first international goal for Morocco in added time to force extra time in what had been an extremely tight World Cup round of 32 battle. This match went to extra time, but neither could find the breakthrough, resulting in the shootout.
Gakpo's goal was his third during this World Cup and a significant one as the tears in his eyes showed. It was a moment of release as the team supported him through the loss of his unborn son. On Saturday, his partner Noa van der Bij posted about the loss of their unborn son, while Gakpo was also given time off to spend with his family before returning to the squad to be involved in this knockout stage fixture. When he scored and was overcome with emotion, the team came onto the pitch to celebrate with their forward.
Now, after a strong performance, saving Crysencio Summerville's penalty, Canadian-born keeper Bounou will move on to the round of 16 with Morocco, where they'll face Canada on the fourth of July in Houston. That will surely be a significant game, but after Morocco finished fourth at the World Cup in 2022, they'll surely want to go into that game and make a statement against one of the host nations.
For the Netherlands, it was an uncharacteristic performance, as after going ahead via Gakpo's goal, they sat back, inviting pressure from the Atlas Lions. If given space to work, Morocco are going to find a way through, and they did just that, now moving to the round of 16 for the second consecutive time, while it's the first time ever that the Netherlands won't make the round of 16 in a World Cup that they've qualified for.
The new round of 32 has drawn criticism, but with Germany falling to Paraguay and the Netherlands now being knocked out on penalties, it is already showing that these games will be battles, and we're just getting started.
