Haiti surge denies Morocco top spot as Brazil cruise to Scotland victory

RIYADH: Questions will most certainly be asked of Mohamed Ouahbi’s Atlas Lions tonight. A 4-2 victory over Haiti may have been enough to confirm their spot in the Round of 32, but after an opening draw with Brazil and a valuable victory against Scotland, Moroccan fans will have felt top spot was there for the taking.

Brazil’s 3-0 sweep of Haiti last week meant Morocco needed to match or better that scoreline while hoping Scotland could limit the Selecao in their encounter.

But matters quickly went awry for the Atlas Lions in the Haiti encounter, while Vinicius Junior and Matheus Cunha led Brazil to a comfortable win against Scotland.

Ouahbi made changes for this match, knowing that Morocco’s Round of 32 chances with four points were all but guaranteed.

Redouane Halhal replaced Issa Diop in defense, while Noussair Mazraoui made way for Anass Salaheddine.

Sofyan Amrabat made his first start of the tournament in place of young star Ayyoub Bouaddi, while Ayoub El-Kaabi led the line.

Those changes, in hindsight, may have contributed to Morocco’s first-half collapse. But no one could take away from the performance Haiti produced on the day, despite already having been eliminated from the tournament.

Les Grenadiers pressed Morocco more aggressively than both Scotland and Brazil, and it paid off.

As early as the ninth minute, Salaheddine was beaten by Jean-Kevin Duverne, who delivered a low cross into the box that Yassine Bounou bundled into his own net under pressure from Lenny Joseph.

Morocco still brought the pace expected from this team, but were made to rue early missed chances, with Ismael Saibari spurning a golden opportunity in the 13th minute after Bilal El-Khannouss dribbled into the box and laid the ball