Morocco once again showed that it is not willing to settle for a good performance in the 2026 World Cup. The African team eliminated the Netherlands after winning 3-2 in the penalty shootout, after drawing 1-1 in 120 minutes, to advance to the round of 16.

After Paraguay's surprise qualification over Germany, the Atlas Lions produced another of the great results of the round of 32 phase by leaving out one of the teams that were the favorites to fight for the title.

Morocco never gave up and found the tie at minute 90 1

The team led by Mohamed Ouahbi was the protagonist for much of the match and generated the clearest chances from the first half.

Ayyoub Bouaddi, Achraf Hakimi and Ismael Saibari came close to opening the scoring, but goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen prevented the goal with decisive interventions.

When the African team played best, the Netherlands struck first. Cody Gakpo took advantage of a service from Crysencio Summerville in the 72nd minute to put the Dutch ahead and bring them closer to qualifying.

However, Morocco reacted at the most critical moment. In the 90 1 minute, Chemsdine Talbi sent a precise cross that Issa Diop converted to make it 1-1 with an accurate header to send the match to extra time.

Penalties defined another surprise of the 2026 World Cup

During extra time, both teams maintained the intensity, although the clearest opportunity once again fell to Morocco, with a shot by Soufiane Rahimi that was contained by Bart Verbruggen.

The classification was defined from the penalty spot, where the Africans showed greater effectiveness.

The decisive charge was the work of Ismael Saibari, who converted the penalty that sealed the 3-2 victory and unleashed the Atlas Lions' celebration.

Canada will be Morocco's next rival

With this result, Morocco advanced to the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup, where it will face Canada on July 4 in Houston.

The African team arrives strengthened after eliminating one of the candidates for the title and confirms that it can compete face to face with any team in this World Cup.

Netherlands says goodbye earlier than expected

The elimination represents one of the hardest blows of the round of 32 phase for the Netherlands, which was unable to maintain the advantage obtained in the second half and ended up giving up the ticket from the eleven steps.

With its classification, Morocco keeps alive the dream of continuing to surprise in the 2026 World Cup, where it has already established itself as one of the most uncomfortable teams in the tournament and will now seek to extend its path against Canada.