The "Atlas Lions" stop Belgium's record winning streak

Morocco pays back the debt to Belgium.. and puts forward the price of the final

• Moroccan players celebrate with their fans the great victory over Belgium.

  Reuters

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The Moroccan national football team put forward in the final price round by defeating Belgium, the third in the last edition, and ranked second in the world, 2-0, yesterday, at Al-Thumama Stadium in Doha, in the opening of the second round of Group F competitions in the Qatar Football World Cup 2022.

Morocco owes its first victory in the current version and the third in its history to the two substitutes, Italian Sampdoria midfielder Abdel Hamid Sabiri (73), and French Toulouse striker Zakaria Abu Khalal (90 + 2).

Morocco raised its tally to four points, one point ahead of Belgium.

Morocco returned the debt to Belgium 28 years after losing 1-0 to it in the group stage at the 1994 World Cup in the United States, and is close to repeating its achievement in 1986, when it reached the final price for the first and last time in its history, and became the first Arab and African team to achieve this. .

On the other hand, Belgium suffered its first loss against an African team at the World Cup, and a flaming summit awaits it against runner-up Croatia in the third and final round, next Thursday, while Morocco will play Canada on the same day.

Morocco stopped Belgium's record series in terms of the number of victories in the group stage, which amounted to eight, equaling Brazil (1986-1994 and 2002-2010).

It is also the 22nd loss for Belgium in the finals, compared to 21 wins and nine draws.

Morocco coach Walid Regragui renewed confidence in the squad that imposed a tie on Croatia in the first round, but moments before its start he was forced to replace his goalkeeper Yassine Bono, because he felt dizzy after the national anthem was played.

The squad included defenders Ashraf Hakimi and Naseer Mazraoui, whose participation was suspected, due to an injury they suffered in the match, the first with pain in his left thigh, and the second on his left side, after a strong fall to the ground.

On the other hand, the Spanish coach of Belgium, Roberto Martinez, made three substitutions to his squad, keeping Aston Villa defender Leander Dendoncker, Leicester City midfielder Yuri Tielemans, and Atletico Madrid winger Yannick Carrasco on the bench.

Martinez pushed Borussia Dormond German defender Thomas Meunier, his teammate midfielder Thorgan Hazard, and Everton midfielder Amadou Onana in their place, while the historic scorer of the Red Devils, Inter Milan's Italian striker, Romelu Lukaku, sat on the bench, after returning to training two days ago. After recovering from a hip injury.

Substitute Sabiri did it with a lateral free kick from the left side, which he hit with his right hand in the near right corner of Courtois' goal (73).

The other substitute, Zakaria Abu Khalal, dealt the fatal blow to Belgium by scoring the second goal, following a pass from Ziyash, which he followed with his right from close range to the left of Courtois (90 + 2).

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