São Paulo – Morocco picked apart Egypt in a thumping 6-0 victory to win historic bronze medal on Thursday (8) at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in Nantes, France, thanks to a Soufiane Rahimi double, and strikes from Abde Ezzalzouli, Bilal El Khannouss, Akram Nakach and Achraf Hakimi. This was Morocco’s best run and their first-ever Olympic football medal.
Ezzalzouli opened the scoring in the 22nd minute before Rahimi doubled their advantage just moments later. El Khannouss added a third soon after the interval before Rahimi completed his brace. A fifth from Akram Nakach sealed their place on the podium late on. Hakimi curled home a pinpoint free kick.
Morocco and Egypt: Surprise semifinalists
Egypt participates in the Olympics under the leadership of Brazilian head coach Rogério Micale, who’s been in the position since 2022. Fans expected the Egyptian team could run for the gold, as it defeated Spain 2-1 in the opening round. Egyptians also beat Uzbekistan and tied with the Dominican Republic in the initial stage. In the quarterfinals, the team beat Paraguay on penalties.
Morocco lost to Spain in the semifinal, despite having fired ahead in the first half and beaten current world champion Argentina in the knockouts. In the opening round, Moroccans also won against Iraq and lost to Ukraine. In the quarterfinals, Morocco won 4-0 against the United States. Morocco’s senior team had a miraculous run two years ago in Qatar, when they placed fourth, the best placement ever obtained by an African team in the tournament.
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Olympics: Arab football teams compete for bronze
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
