Morocco conquer difficult Haiti assignment to finish second in Group C

Playing without pressure after already being knocked out, Haiti started brightly with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde striking just over, before they stunned Morocco by taking the lead inside the opening 10 minutes. Jean-Kévin Duverne crossed for Lenny Joseph to produce a cheeky flick that went in off Yassine Bounou.

It was the wake-up call Morocco needed, as Johny Placide saved well from Ayoub El Kaabi’s cross-come-shot, before Ismael Saibari ballooned over from close range. Haiti’s stopper then produced a superb double save to deny Achraf Hakimi and Sofyan Amrabat in one-on-one situations, as the Atlas Lions continued to roar.

Their pressure eventually paid off when Placide could only flap Bilal El Khannouss’ cross straight to Hakimi, who slid the ball home on the line. However, Haiti’s heads did not drop and they retook the lead in fantastic fashion, as Duverne won the ball high up the pitch to feed Wilson Isidor, who emphatically found the top corner from distance.

Morocco had not trailed at HT since their last defeat 31 games ago though (W17, D14), and that run was extended after netting an equaliser just before the break with Saibari expertly converting Hakimi’s cross first-time into the bottom corner - making the Bayern Munich-bound forward the first African player to score in all three group stage matches at a WC.

Knowing top spot in the group was at stake, Morocco pushed for goals in the second half, and they almost went in front before the hour mark when El Khannouss’ curler from the edge of the area had to be pushed away by Placide.

Haiti then had an almighty scare when Ricardo Adé struck the ball just over his own crossbar when running back to his goal. Their resilience would eventually be broken though when Chadi Riad flicked on a corner for substitute Soufiane Rahimi, whose deflected strike found the top corner. 

Morocco added the cherry on the cake in stoppage time when Rahimi seemingly kept the ball in play before squaring for Gessime Yassine to tap home his first-ever senior international goal.

As a result, Haiti were cruelly denied a first-ever point at the WC finals as their tournament comes to an end, while Morocco advance to the knockouts in second place in Group C and extend their remarkable unbeaten run to 32 matches in all competitions (W27, D5).