Rabat – The U-17 Moroccan national football team defeated the Iranian national team today with a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in full time, reaching the quarter-finals of the ongoing U-17 World Cup in Indonesia.
Over the course of the first half, both teams tried to reach the other’s goal with Iran having two shots on target to one for Morocco.
Possession was fairly split, with Iran having control of the ball for 52% of the first half, which ended goalless.
In the 73rd minute of the game, Iranian striker Esmaeil Gholizadeh opened the scoring for his team with a header.
However, Moroccan forward Nassim Azaouzi tied the score during the second half’s stoppage time to move straight to a penalty shootout, which ended 4-1 in favor of Morocco.
This is now Morocco’s highest finish in the tournament’s history, having previously reached the round of 16 in the 2013 edition, where they were defeated by Cote d’Ivoire 1-2.
Morocco came out of the group stage with two victories and one loss. The Atlas Lions won over Panama 2-0 in the first match, lost to Ecuador 0-2, and bounced back to win against host country Indonesia 3-1 in the third match.
As a result, the team qualified to the knockout stage, ranking first in Group A with six points.
This year’s U-17 World Cup marks the 19th edition of the tournament.
Nigeria is the most successful team in the competition’s history with five trophies, followed by defending champions Brazil with four, and Ghana and Mexico with two.
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