Soufiane Rahimi’s 78th-minute goal on a corner kick sequence lifted Morocco to a come-from-behind 4-2 victory over Haiti on the final Group C matchday Wednesday in Atlanta.
Rahimi, who was subbed on eight minutes earlier, headed a cross from Chadi Riad across the box with a stellar right-foot touch. His next touch deflected off a defender past Haiti goalkeeper Johny Placide and into the net.
Achraf Hakimi, who took the corner kick, didn’t get an assist on the play but scored Morocco’s first goal and set up their second, helping the Atlas Lions finish a second straight unbeaten group stage at a World Cup.
Gessime Yassine followed with a dagger goal in the 89th minute to secure the victory and give Morocco their most-ever goals in a World Cup match.
Brazil, which entered the day level on points with Morocco but ahead on goal differential, clinched first place in Group C with their 3-0 defeat of Scotland.
Morocco (2-0-1, 7 points) finished second in the group and will face the Group F winner, who could be either the Netherlands, Japan or Sweden, in the round of 32 on June 29 in Guadalupe, Mexico.
Haiti (0-3-0, 0 points) were eliminated before this match. And yet, they matched their scoring output from their first five all-time World Cup matches combined in the first half after being outscored 4-0 in their first two Group C matches.
Although it was credited as an own goal by Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, Jean-Kevin Duverne and Lenny Joseph played crucial roles in Haiti’s first World Cup goal since 1974.
In the 10th minute, Duverne sent a cross into the 6-yard box, where Joseph back-heeled a shot off the goalie and into the net.
Hakimi leveled the score in the 39th minute when he finished off a deflected save by Placide, which fell right to the goal line.
Just four minutes later, Haiti reclaimed the lead on a rocket of a shot from Wilson Isidor, who took a pass from Duverne and launched the ball from outside the 18-yard box perfectly into the top-left corner.
Morocco’s response was much quicker this time, with Hakimi delivering a cross into the box that found the right foot of Ismael Saibari. He finished it with his first touch for his third goal of this World Cup, in the first minute of stoppage time, leveling the game at 2 before halftime.
Placide, who announced this week that this would be his final international match for Haiti, finished with seven saves.
–Field Level Media
