Borussia Dortmund internationals: Belgium stunned by Morocco

Belgium were handed a shock 2-0 defeat by Morocco on Sunday, leaving their hopes of qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup round of 16 in the balance.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup has delivered plenty of surprise results. And another big shock occurred on Sunday, as second half goals from Romain Saïss and Zakaria Aboukhlal helped Morocco stun Belgium. It was a well deserved defeat for Roberto Martinez’s side, who have looked rather toothless at the World Cup so far.

Borussia Dortmund duo Thomas Meunier and Thorgan Hazard both started for Belgium on Sunday as they looked to secure their place in the round of 16 after beating Canada 1-0 in their World Cup opener. The latter set up former BVB striker Michy Batshuayi for Belgium’s first chance of the game in the fifth minute. But his shot was well saved by the goalkeeper.

Morocco managed to keep Belgium at bay for the majority of the game after that, and also caused a number of problems going forward. They finally got their reward in the 73rd minute, when Romain Saïss glanced home Abdelhamid Sabiri’s free-kick past Thibaut Courtois to give Morocco the shock lead.

As Belgium looked to find a late equaliser, Morocco went on the counter-attack and sealed a famous win with Zakaria Aboukhlal making it 2-0 in the 92nd minute.

The defeat leaves Belgium in a precarious position heading into the final set of fixtures. The Red Devils are third in Group F, one point behind Morocco and Croatia. They must beat Croatia in their final group stage game in order to avoid an early exit from the 2022 FIFA World Cup.