Tuesday, October 12, 2021 at 11:06 PM• Dominic Mostert • Last update: 23:08

Morocco has secured a place in the final qualifying round for the 2022 World Cup. With a 1-4 win over Guinea, the North African country has collected twelve points from four matches, making the group win with two games left. In the last round, Morocco plays in a diptych against another group winner for a ticket for the World Cup in Qatar. Morocco is the second country to qualify for the final round after Senegal.

Left-back Souffian El Karouani made his basic debut for Morocco after playing nine minutes in Saturday’s away game against Guinea-Bissau. Former Eredivisionist Sofyan Amrabat started as a basic player, just like Friday. AZ striker Zakaria Aboukhlal was on the bench, but came in four minutes before the end. Morocco opened the scoring after twenty minutes. Achraf Hakimi, after playing well with Ayoub El Kaabi, struggled past his guard on the right flank and sent a sharp cross to Ryan Mmaee. His header landed on the crossbar, after which El Kaabi gave the last push and worked the ball over the line.

El Kaabi thus strengthened his top form. The Hatayspor attacker scored before the international match against Yeni Malatyaspor (0-2 win), gave in the first game against Guinea-Bissau (5-0 win) a goal and assist and was in the second game against Guinea-Bissau (0- 3 win) twice accurate. However, after half an hour, Guinea came alongside. Morocco’s goalkeeper Bono was knocked out when a devastating swipe from Mamadou Kane was deflected by Romain Saïss: 1-1. It was Morocco’s first goal against after nine games in which it kept a clean sheet.

Three minutes before the break, Vahid Halilhodzic’s team took the lead again. After a long free kick from midfield, Soufiane Chakla headed the ball at the feet of Selim Amallah, who then rounded the ball. Protest from Guinea’s players following Chakla’s alleged offside fell on deaf ears. Halfway through the second half, Morocco expanded the margin: with a low pass from a corner, Imran Louza cleared the ball for Amallah, who scored his second goal of the match with a hard shot through the bottom of the bar. Substitute Sofiane Boufal determined the final score with a nice bicycle kick from the five-meter line, although he was probably also offside.