Morocco secured their first ever World Cup victory on Sunday, defeating South Korea 1- 0 in their second Group H match, all but sealing the Asian side’s elimination.
Morocco is ranked 55 places lower than South Korea in the women’s world rankings, but attacker Ibtissam Jraidi scored Morocco’s first World Cup goal in the sixth minute. Jraidi rushed forward to make a neat header that went in at the far post after Hanane Ait El Haj whipped in a cross from the right. Park Eunun nearly equalised with a diving header of her own at the other end, but her effort went agonisingly wide of the post. much to the relief of Khadija Er-Rmichi in Morocco’s goal.
Germany found the back of the net six times in their group opener, but Er-Rmichi was barely pressed by the South Koreans, who failed to have a shot on target and struggled to make inroads into the final third as the Moroccan defence held strong.
Morocco’s Nouhaila Benzina, the first player to wear a headscarf in the Women’s World Cup, made some vital interceptions and nearly scored from a set piece when she volleyed a snapshot over the bar. She even took one for the team when she purposefully clipped Ji So-yun, who was sprinting through on goal with support on a counterattack, taking a yellow card without protest.
South Korea, though, were unable to convert on the free kick, which struck the wall, as coach Collin Bell stood on the sidelines shaking his head in frustration. Casey Phair of South Korea came close late in the game, but the 16-year-old, who became the youngest participant in Women’s World Cup history in their opener, shot wide to leave them bottom of the group.
“To be honest, I can’t believe it. We reserved the two worst performances of my career for the World Cup. “I didn’t recognise my own team,” admitted Bell, who took over in 2019 and led the club to the Asian Cup final last year.
“The truth is that we were not good enough in both games.” We need to look into why this happened. I’m not going to let my emotions get the best of me right now, even though we’re all really disappointed. The guys are considerably better than they have showed in both matches, and it’s almost astonishing how well we have done.”
Morocco is currently tied for third place with Germany and Colombia, who play later on Sunday. South Korea has no points and will be eliminated if Germany does not lose.