Boston, MINA – Ismael Saibari scored the fastest goal of the World Cup so far, after just 71 seconds, as Morocco defeated Scotland 1-0 on Friday, widening their chances of qualifying for the knockout stage.
His clinical finish in just over a minute sealed victory for the Atlas Lions in a thrilling match watched by a crowd of 64,146 at Gillette Stadium near Boston.
In the previous match, Saibari scored the opening goal in Morocco’s 1-1 draw against Brazil last week.
The 25-year-old, born in Spain and raised in Belgium, is reportedly on the verge of a 55 million euro (63 million US dollar) move from Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven to Bayern Munich.
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The quality of his shot past goalkeeper Angus Gunn demonstrated why he has attracted so much interest, and it demonstrated that Scotland lacks the same quality in the opposition penalty box. This helps explain why Morocco is ranked fifth in the world and Scotland is ranked 40th.
With four points from two matches, Morocco is now poised to advance to the round of 32, aiming to at least match their historic run to the semifinals in Qatar in 2022.
However, it was a disappointing night for Scotland and their fans who have packed Boston throughout this World Cup, as their team never truly tested Morocco’s goalkeeper, Yassine Bounou. []
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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