Haiti turned in a brave performance in their final game at the 2026 World cup but ultimately fell to a 4-2 defeat against Morocco.
Les Grenadiers led twice in the first-half and produced one of the goals of the tournament via Wilson Isidor but ultimately the Atlas Lions’ superior quality shone through.
Morocco started brightly but against the run of play, they fell behind.
Jean-Kevin Duverne’s low cross beat the dive of Yassine Bounou and found Lenny Joseph who produced an impudent back-heel to finish off Haiti’s first goal of the tournament — although it was later credited as a Bono own goal.
For Morocco the chances started to flow. Achraf Hakimi burst through a gap in the Haiti defence but had his shot blocked by goalkeeper Johnny Placide who somehow managed to react to save the follow up attempt from Ayoub El Kaabi as well.
It wasn’t too long before Hakimi did get the equaliser though. Bilal El Khannouss’ shot was deflected and Placide couldn’t push it far enough away from Hakimi who managed to bundle the ball over the line unceremoniously.
Again though, Haiti silenced the Moroccan crowd by re-taking the lead in spectacular fashion just a few moments later. Duverne won the ball back high and tapped a pass into Wilson Isidor who unleashed a rocket of a shot into the top corner to send the Haiti supporters into raptures.
Almost instantly though, the Atlas Lions were back on terms again. Hakimi raced onto a long pass and pulled a low cross to the edge of the box where Ismael Saibari was arriving to sweep home for his third goal in three games.
In a breathless first-half, Brahim Diaz had a great chance on the brink of the break to put his side ahead for the first time, but he got underneath the cut-back from El Khannouss and launched his effort over the bar. At the time of writing that could be Czech Republic, South Africa, or most likely, South Korea.
Haiti continued to look for another in the second half, but Morocco’s quality looked set to shine through. Saibari should’ve scored with a stretched finish at the back post but deflected the ball wide. Luckily for him, the offside flag saved his blushes.
Placide pulled off another fine stop to prevent an El Khannouss goal and Ricardo Ade, the Haiti skipper, came close to putting the ball in his own net when diverting a cross out for a corner.
Finally, Morocco took the lead for the first time in the tournament when Chadi Riad’s misdirected header found the feet of substitute Soufiane Rahimi. The Al-Ain man was clinical taking one touch to steady himself then firing a deflected effort into the top corner.
The wind was taken out of Haiti’s sails by that goal and the only team who looked like scoring from there on was Morocco and indeed they did get a fourth in the 89th minute.
Rahimi nipped in to keep the ball in play as Carlens Arcus attempted to shepherd it out for a goal kick and laid it on a plate for Gessime Yassine to score his first international goal and secure the points for the Atlas Lions.
- Full Time
- 93'J. Casimir
- G. Yassine89'
- 83'F. Pierrot on for L. Joseph
- S. El Mourabet on for N. El Aynaoui83'
- N. Mazraoui on for A. Salah-Eddine83'
- 80'D. Simon on for D. Jean Jacques
- 80'C. Arcus on for J. Duverne
- 80'D. Nazon
- 79'J. Placide
- S. Rahimi78'
- G. Yassine on for A. El Kaabi70'
- A. Ounahi on for B. Díaz70'
- S. Rahimi on for I. Saibari70'
- 67'L. Deedson on for W. Isidor
- 67'D. Nazon on for R. Providence
- Half Time
- I. Saibari46'
- 43'W. Isidor
- A. Hakimi39'
- 10'Y. Bounou (OG)
- Kick Off
-
1
Gessime Yassine1 - 2Soufiane Rahimi1
- 3Achraf Hakimi1
- 1Achraf Hakimi5
- 2Ismael Saibari5
- 3Ayoub El Kaabi3
- 1
Ruben Providence2 - 2Ayoub El Kaabi2
- 3Danley Jean Jacques2
- 1Soufiane Rahimi1
- 2Achraf Hakimi1
- 3Chadi Riad1
- 1Achraf Hakimi7
- 2Bilal El Khannouss3
- 3Frantzdy Pierrot2
- 1Chadi Riad64
- 2Sofyan Amrabat64
- 3Bilal El Khannouss59
- 1Bilal El Khannouss5
- 2Achraf Hakimi4
- 3Ruben Providence3
- 1Jean-Kévin Duverne3
- 2Ricardo Adé3
- 3Martin Expérience3
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