At the Estadio Monterrey in Mexico, the fourth match of the Round of 32 in the FIFA World Cup 2026 took place, where the Netherlands drew 1–1 in regular time, before Morocco won 3–2 in the penalty shootout, with the Atlas Lions advancing to the next round.
The match began in a balanced way, but Morocco created two excellent chances to open the scoring. In the 20th and 21st minutes, Bart Verbruggen made crucial saves—first denying a header from Neil El Aynaoui and then stopping a shot from Achraf Hakimi. Morocco’s stronger spell in the first half served as a warning for the Netherlands, who were fortunate to go into halftime level.
Morocco again started the second half more aggressively. In the 52nd minute, Hakimi struck a shot from a tight angle that hit the post. Despite the intensity, the game remained a tight, physical contest with limited clear chances.
The Netherlands eventually broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute. Crysencio Summerville set up Cody Gakpo, who finished powerfully to give the Dutch the lead. Gakpo’s emotional celebration reflected a deeply personal moment, as he had recently lost a child before birth.
Morocco pushed forward in search of an equalizer and succeeded in stoppage time (90+1), when Issa Diop scored a spectacular header to level the match and force extra time.
In extra time, Morocco started brighter and nearly took the lead in the 96th minute through Sofiane Rahimi, but Verbruggen produced another outstanding save. The remainder of extra time saw Morocco in control, though without further clear chances.
Morocco will now face Canada—one of the tournament hosts—in the Round of 16 on July 13 in Houston.
