March 30, (THEWILL) – The Atlas Lions of Morocco defeated the Democratic Republic of the Congo 4-1 in the second leg of the FIFA World Cup playoffs tonight as Yassine Bounou and his teammates officially qualified for the world’s most prestigious competition.
An early injury meant that Moroccan Jawad El Yamiq was forced to leave the field, making way for Samy Mmaee. In the ninth minute, Achraf Hakimi attempted to reach Ayoub El Kaabi but placed too much on the pass, and the opportunity was lost.
El Kaabi received a precise low pass inside the box in the 13th minute, controlled the ball, and hammered it to the centre of the goal, but it comfortably landed in goalkeeper Joel Kiassumbua’s hands.
The Atlas Lions still maintained control of the game for the opening 20 minutes of the first half, but with no solid finishing. But, Azzedine Ounahi changed that when he scored a beautiful goal from a great shot in the 21st minute, that he smashed inside the right post from approximately 22 metres.
Morocco’s goalie Yassine Bounou suffered an injury and the game was interrupted. The keeper received care from the physios and, because he had not sustained a significant injury that would need him to leave the field, he continued. He returned to the game amid applause from fans in the Mohamed V stands.
Congo’s Leopards got more confident and committed to the game, demonstrating some ball control, but were always up against a more determined Atlas Lions squad.
For the second goal, Tarik Tissoudali patiently controlled a ball that had passed through a motionless Congolese defensive wall and netted in the 52nd minute. It meant the first half ended with Morocco leading by a 2-0 score.
The second half began as the first ended, with a Congolese defence attempting to contain Morocco’s defensive-splitting and Morocco attempting to increase its share of goals.
Congo’s desperate attempts to stop Morocco’s defence-splitting passes failed. Tissoudali made a beautiful pass to find Ounahi waiting inside the penalty area, and he took advantage of the situation to rocket a shot into the bottom right corner, scoring the third goal, his second of the game, in the 54th minute.
Congo’s leopards were keen to rediscover their form and return to the game, but a concentrated Moroccan squad supported by fans proved too strong.
The Atlas Lions of Morocco demonstrated a determined desire to score goals. In the 69th minute, Ounahi unleashed a fantastic shot that ricocheted off the goalkeeper and back to Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi inside the box, who scored Morocco’s fourth goal.
Congo’s Ben Malango Ngita scored the Leopards’ lone goal in the 77th minute after getting a wonderful feed from Cedrik Bakambu that he converted into a goal. But, it did little to affect the score and give Morocco their slot at Qatar 2022.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
