Trending 
Morocco secured a place in the World Cup last 32 with a hard-fought 4-2 victory over Haiti on Wednesday, overcoming two deficits to finish as runners-up in Group C.
The North Africans ended the group stage level on seven points with Brazil, who defeated Scotland 3-0, but finished second on goal difference. Morocco will now face the winners of Group F, either the Netherlands, Japan or Sweden, in the knockout round on Monday.
Already eliminated after losing their opening two matches, Haiti nevertheless pushed Morocco all the way and twice took the lead in an entertaining contest.
Haiti opened the scoring after 10 minutes when a move involving Josue Casimir, Jean-Kevin Duverne and Lenny Joseph ended with the ball finding the net via Morocco goalkeeper Yacine Bounou. The goal was initially credited to Joseph before being recorded as an own goal.
Morocco levelled in the 39th minute through captain Achraf Hakimi, who reacted quickest after goalkeeper Johny Placide parried a cross into the danger area.
Haiti restored their advantage four minutes later when Wilson Isidor unleashed a powerful strike from outside the box. However, Morocco responded almost immediately, with Ismael Saibari finishing off a move created by Hakimi to make it 2-2 before halftime.
The decisive breakthrough came in the 78th minute when substitute Soufiane Rahimi scored from close range after Haiti failed to clear a corner. Twenty-year-old Gessime Yassine then sealed the victory in stoppage time after a VAR review confirmed his goal.
Hakimi said Morocco was delighted to qualify despite being made to work hard by a spirited Haitian side, noting that the team must now focus on the next stage of the tournament.
“It was a crazy game, too many goals but we are really delighted to qualify for the next round and now we have to keep going,” said Hakimi.
“Haiti were already out of the competition but showed great spirit and made us suffer but in the end we did it.”
Haiti coach Sebastien Migne praised his players’ effort against stronger opposition and expressed hope that the team would return to the World Cup in four years’ time.
“We were up against a quality team and I hope we gave our fans something to relish,” Migne said.
“We have to keep working hard to come back again four years from now.”
Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi admitted his side would have liked to top the group but said they had not played well enough to achieve that objective, adding that Morocco had to push hard in the second half and created numerous scoring opportunities.
“We’d have loved to top our group but I don’t think we played well enough to do so,” Ouahbi said.
“We had to go all out in the second half and had so many chances to score.”
Despite losing all three matches in their first World Cup appearance in 52 years, Haiti exited the tournament with their reputation enhanced after producing another competitive display against one of Africa’s strongest sides.
