Morocco, one of Africa’s four representatives Africa at the ongoing 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament, reached the last-16 phase on Thursday, August 3 after stunning Colombia 1-0 in the final Group F game.
Anissa Lahmari was Morocco’s goal hero after netting the lone winner that sunk Colombia at the NIB stadium in Perth, Australia.
This was the second surprise victory for the Moroccans in the group, which included former champions Germany, who thumped them 6-0 in the opening game last week.
However, Morocco bounced back with a shock 1-0 win over South Korea in the second game and their fairytale run continued on Thursday when they beat Colombia to progress into the round-of-16.
Colombia finished top of the group with six points. Morocco were the runners-up while Germany and South Korea, who drew 1-1 in their last game, came in third and fourth respectively.
That means Colombia and Morocco qualified for the knockout stages of the tournament while Germany and Korea are out.
Morocco will face France in the round-of-16 game slated for Tuesday, August 8.
The Moroccan women, also known as the Atlas Lionesses, joined South Africa and Nigeria as the surviving African nations in the last-16.
South Africa, who are the reigning African champions, will take on The Netherlands on Sunday, August 6 while Nigeria face England on Monday, August 7.
The other African nation, Zambia, exited the tournament at the group stage after suffering heavy defeats (0-5) to Japan and Spain.