On a Sunday evening in Chile, inside the Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Morocco’s U-20 National team lifted one of FIFA’s most coveted trophies.
Morocco had done the unthinkable and made their way to the Men’s U-20 FIFA World Cup final.
They then pushed it even further on that fateful day of October 19th, as they defeated a U-20 Argentinian side that had gone undefeated for the entire tournament.
Embed from Getty ImagesWe now know how the story ends, but when this edition of the men’s U-20 FIFA World Cup began, no one could have predicted this outcome.
Morocco’s entire journey through the men’s U-20 FIFA World Cup is a story of passion, of sacrifice, of camaraderie, it’s a story of football.
It’s a story now etched into the history of the beautiful game.
So let’s take a walk through history and see exactly how it is that this underdog defeated the Argentinian giants.
Moroccan Dark Horse
Morocco began the tournament in what many considered the tournament’s “group of death”, and as the dark horse of the group, no less.
A group consisting of South American Champions, Brazil, European Champions, Spain, CONCACAF Champions, Mexico, and Morocco.
Embed from Getty ImagesMorocco entered the group as the underdog, as all statistics saw Brazil and Spain battling it out for the top 2 spots.
But to every soccer pundit’s surprise, they finished top of the group, having only lost points to Mexico in the final group match.
Finishing head of their table with 6 points, Morocco had beaten Spain 2-0 and secured a second win against Brazil.
Round Of 16 Vs South Korea
They moved on to the round of 16 to face opponents South Korea.
South Korea finished as one of the better-performing third-place teams in the tournament, securing their place in the round of 16.
Embed from Getty ImagesIn a hotly contested match, the final score line would read 2-1 in Morocco’s favor.
South Korea would go behind early, due to an own gol that would bounce off of Center Back Min-Ha Shin’s thigh into the back of the net.
Embed from Getty ImagesA header into the back of the net from Moroccan striker Zabiri, after an inspired run ending in a lobbed pass into the middle from Right Winnger Othmane Maamma, would double the tally for Morocco at the 58th minute.
Embed from Getty ImagesSouth Korea would hammer Morocco’s gol for the entirety of the second half.
It wasn’t until a penalty was given at the 6th minute of injury time that they were able to get onto the score sheet.
Unfortunately for South Korea, it was too little too late, and Morocco had secured their place in the quarter-finals.
Eliminating The Stars And Stripes
Morocco’s next opponents were none other than the USA.
This was a USA team that finished first in their group and was coming off a 3-0 win over Italy, and they were out for blood.
Embed from Getty ImagesFrom the start of the match, this U-20 USA team would begin to hammer the Moroccan gol with attempt after attempt.
For all of the USA’s ball possession and shots on gol it was the Moroccans that would convert first.
In the 31st minute, a cross into the keeper’s box would pit Maamma against the USA keeper.
The keeper would block Maamma’s attempt, but on the rebound, Maamma, with a heel kick, would center it into the middle past the keeper’s reach.
Here, Left Back Fouad Zahouani would slap the ball past USA’s keeper to score the first gol of the match, putting Morocco ahead 1-0.
Embed from Getty ImagesCole Campbell would convert a penalty to put the USA level 1-1 at the end of the 1st half.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe USA would continue to have the majority of the ball possession in the beginning minutes of the 2nd half of play.
Chaos inside the USA keeper’s box after a Moroccan throw-in would have USA Defender Joshua Wynder scoring an own gol in the 67th minute.
The USA coach would draw one of his two green cards in an attempt to disallow the gol.
He believed there had been a foul in the lead-up to the gol, though after a referee reviewed the footage, the gol stood.
Morocco were up 2-1.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe USA would continue to keep ball possession and create dangerous chances, but much to their dismay, nothing would come of it.
Star Spangled Stumble
At the 87th minute, a clearance from Moroccan defenders pushed the ball to the other side of the pitch.
USA Midfielder Taha Habroune let the ball bounce, believing his keeper would clear it, and with an absolute lack of communication, the keeper would miss the ball as well.
All the while, Morocco’s own Ilias Boumassaoudi would be providing pressure, which probably contributed to the USA’s blunder.
USA keeper Adam Beaudry would attempt to win the ball back with help from Habroune.
Unfortunately for both of them and the entire USA squad, Ilias had other plans.
While falling backwards, Ilias Boumassaoudi would slap the ball into the center where a waiting Gessime Yassine would drive the ball into the back of the net, making it 3-1 in Morocco’s favor.
Embed from Getty ImagesWith so few minutes left to play, try as they might, the USA U-20 squad could not find another gol to help narrow the gap.
The final whistle blew after 97 minutes of play time, and in a match where the USA were dominating for most of the game, Morocco came out on top.
They were on to the semi-finals.
