Netherlands vs Morocco, FIFA World Cup 2026 highlights: Morocco send Netherlands home

SAVED!

The Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou saves a shot from Crysencio Summerville with a strong left palm after staying upright!

MOROCCO CAN WIN THIS WITH THE NEXT KICK!

STILL 2-2, despite three kicks being taken.

MISSED!

Quinten Timber drags his shot wide! And the Moroccans have victory waiting for them!

2-2 with Morocco to take the next kick!

GOAL!

Wout Weghorst SCORES! Clinical penalty from him.

Netherlands lead 2-1

MISSED!

The Moroccans have a lifeline after Kluivert hits the upright! And the Dutch have a miss too!

Still 1-0

First kick by the Dutch! Koopmeiners keeps the ball on the deck and curls the ball past the keeper on the left!

GOAL!

Netherlands lead 1-0

We have seven more minutes before we head to our second penalty shootout of the night! Both Netherlands and Morocco have scored one goal apiece. Can someone --- SOMEONE! --- find a winner in extra team without the game having to go into the penalty shootouts?

Rahimi is through on goal in the 96th minute after feinting past a diving Dutch defender. Rahimi has just the Dutch keeper to beat form point blank range. His shot, though, is blocked by the Dutch keeper Bart Verbruggen, who jumps in front of the striker, arms and feet outstretched like a starfish. That could easily have been Morocco's winner. Instead, we'll fight for more time to try and find a winner.

We will have extra time to decide the winner of this game! Both teams have scored one goal each. Both sides have used up all their subs. Now, after giving everything they had, they must soldier on for 30 more minutes (and perhaps also withstand the penalty shootout drama).

Ahead of the Round of 32 match against Morocco, Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk had praised Cody Gakpo and spoken about the need to be there for the forward after he had lost his unborn child in a miscarriage.

"The most important thing is to ask, 'What do you need?' It's awful news, and it shows that football is secondary. There are more important things in life. It's very sad, but Cody is dealing with it. He's very mature, very adult. I have lots of respect for the way he and his family are handling this. However awful it is, I respect it very much," Van Dijk said.

Meanwhile, Dutch coach Ronald Koeman revealed that Gakpo was given the option of going home to be with his partner after the miscarriage.

“Of course in the first few days he had the freedom to go out and be with the family. There was never a moment when he said ‘I want to go back [home]’. That’s the way he approached it. He’s ready to play and I don’t think it will be a heavy weight on his performance. He deals with things in his own way. It’s very powerful, beautiful, and we’ve left it there.”

Achraf Hakimi almost scores the opening goal of this game after being released on the right flank with a slick pass. He puts his foot through the ball and it beats the keeper, but flies into the crossbar!

That's the closest anyone's ever come to scoring tonight! And right after that golden chance, Hakimi is released through on goal once again by Azzedine Ounahi, but this time, the ball's taken off his feet with a superbly-timed tackle from Van de Ven!

But we're still staring at a 0-0 scoreline after 52 minutes of football.

A vicious cross from the right wing comes in. And Morocco's Saibari throws himself in it's path. The ball bounces and whooshes past his head. A centimtre or two away from scoring. Saibari 's fall is held by the Dutch goal netting. he's come close a couple of times and the Moroccans have been the best placed to score the opener today.

For now, at half-time, it's still goalless.

Yassine Bounou palms the ball away that is headed like a rocket into this goal! The Dutch have a corner. Nothing comes off of it!

But a good save from Bounou.

We will have six minutes of added time in the first half.

More Dutch possession where the ball is recycled amongst themselves. Sides by side, one step ahead with a pass, and then one step backwards with a back pass.

The Moroccans are defending in neat lines of three. They almost like players connected by a stick on a foosball table.

After 30 minutes, NED 0-0 MAR

What a save from Dutch keeper Bart Verbruggen! The Moroccans get a corner. Hakimi floats the ball in nicely! And Neil El Aynaoui bursts into the box and heads the ball goalwards, and a reflex save from Verbruggen, who manages to get both palms on the ball, prevents what should have been a deserved goal.

Still goalless in Estadio Monterrey

Saibari and Van Hecke go head-to-head, almost literally after a on-the-ball challenge where one player's foot almost made contact with the other player's forehead. When Saibari fell and got up, Van Hecke gave him a less-than-good-natured shove. The ref gives both players a talking to.

Already terse here in Estadio Monterrey.

After 8 minutes, NED 0-0 MAR

Both sets of players are out for the national anthems in Estadio Monterrey. We'll have group photos, other pleasantries like handshakes with officials, players jumping and stretching in last-ditch bid to warm-up etc before we have kickoff.

But kickoff happens at last, and we're off!

Netherlands forward Cody Gakpo, who plays for Liverpool, suffered a personal tragedy while he was in North America for the FIFA World Cup. His partner, Noa van der Bij, recently announced the death of their unborn son.

In a message she shared on social media, van der Bij wrote: "With broken hearts, we share the devastating news that our baby boy passed away during pregnancy.Thank you for your love and support. Elijah Raphael Gakpo. Forever loved. Forever our son."

van der Bij added:"We went to church to light a candle. Afterward, we walked to the church playground with our son Samuel. There was only one other child there. His name was Elijah. There could not have been a more beautiful sign from God. He reminded us that our little boy is never far away."

“From a footballing point of view, they’re a very good team,” Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman told FIFA about his team. “There are players who love to get on the ball. I’ve got a group of lads that work really well together and have a great team spirit.”

Morocco goalkeeper Bono who has been at three World Cups now, has witnessed Morocco go from being outsiders in 2018 to semi-finalists at Qatar 2022.

"It's something really special and, above all, it's exciting," Bono told FIFA after the Haiti game. "I think as a team we're improving, although that doesn't always show in the results, because winning depends on so many things. Hopefully luck will be on our side and we can go a long way."

Brobbey has been the revelation of this Dutch campaign. The Sunderland striker was on the bench for the opening draw with Japan. Koeman started him against Sweden and he scored twice inside seventeen minutes. He did it again here. Physical, precise, clever with his back to goal, he gives the Netherlands a focal point they have spent years searching for. Van Dijk called him “so strong” after the Sweden game. Three goals in three games.

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After topping Group F with ten goals in three matches, Ronald Koeman was categorical when asked about his team.

“We don’t fear anyone,” Koeman said. “If you’re at the World Cup, you’re there to win it, but there’s still a long road ahead of us.”

The Netherlands are famous for never having won the FIFA World Cup despite the talent they have produced over the years. Think Johan Cruyff. Think Dennis Bergkamp. Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit. Or the batch that had Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie.

But the Dutch have a record they can be semi-proud of: the nation has reached every Round of 16 at the World Cup since 1974.