ohMorocco made a strong start to the African qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, with their second consecutive victory. It came at the expense of Zambia 2-1 Friday at Adrar Stadium in Agadir in the third round of Group E competitions.
The Atlas Lions, the fourth World Cup in Qatar, topped the group with six points from two games and three points ahead of Zambia, Niger and Tanzania, and Congo is at the bottom of the standings without a score.
The match between Congo and Niger was cancelled due to the latter’s refusal to play in Brazzaville, after the match was scheduled in Kinshasa.
The hosts dominated the game, while Zambia retreated to full defence. After a series of attempts, Al-Nasiri got a penalty after being obstructed by Stobella Sonzo, Ziyech scored it creeping in the left corner that goalkeeper Tresford Mulinga was unable to block (5).
The Moroccans looked for a boost to the result and Roman Saiss almost relieved his team, but his header passed out of the goal (16).
Real Madrid player Dias shot a powerful ball from inside the area that the Zambian goalkeeper caught with difficulty (27). Morocco’s normal attempts continued without posing the real threat to the visitors’ goal.
The Zambian team tightened its defensive reservation in the second half to accommodate the full control of the “Atlas Lions”, and Dias exchanged a pass with Youssef Al-Nasiri and the Real Madrid player shot a ball that passed to the side of the goal (63).
The Moroccan pressure resulted in the reinforcement goal through Monaco’s French player Elias Ben Saghir, who took advantage of Dias’ backhand pass and shot it strong into the heart of the goal (67).
Ben Saghir shot again, but the ball went over the goal (71).
The team tried to “copper bullets” launch attacks towards goalkeeper Al Hilal Saudi Yassin Bono, and managed substitute Edward Shilovia to reduce the result after a pass from King’s Kangua (80).
The Zambian goalkeeper saved a strong shot from Dias after an individual effort (82), then the Zambian team completed the meeting with ten players due to the injury of one of its players after Israeli coach Avram Grant had exhausted his substitutions.
Substitute Sofiane Rahimi, crowned Asian champion with Al Ain UAE, tried to boost Morocco’s lead, but his shot deviated from goal (86).
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