Topics: Hakim Ziyech, Milan Borjan, Morocco National Team, Canada National Team, FIFA World Cup
The Atlas Lions need only a point to confirm their spot in the round of 16 and Ziyech's early goal vs. Canada could secure progression for the North African side.

Could this goal from Hakim Ziyech send Morocco to the FIFA World Cup round of 16 for the first time in 36 years?

The Atlas Lions have taken to the pitch for their third and final Qatar 2022 group-stage match, facing Canada in a decisive fixture. While the North American side are out of the competition, the North Africans entered this tie with the goal of progressing to the round of 16.

Ziyech and Co. drew 0-0 with Canada in their opening fixture before pulling off a tremendous 2-0 victory over European heavyweight Belgium in the following game. As a result, Walid Regragui's need only a single point to confirm their spot in the knockout stage.

And it did not take long for the Moroccans to all but confirm their progression. After only four minutes, the North Africans marched into a 1-0 lead, with their talisman attacker Hakim Ziyech scoring the goal.

However, this would not have been possible had it not been for a horrendous blunder from the Canadian goalkeeper. Milan Borjan received a simple backpass from his teammate but instead of clearing the ball in the face of pressure, the onrushing Les Rouges shot-stopper passed the ball straight to the aforementioned Chelsea winger, who chipped the ball into the back of an empty net. Watch the horrible error and the subsequent goal in the clips below (videos are geo-restricted).

Morocco did not stop there. Nineteen minutes later, the Atlas Lions doubled their lead, this time courtesy of Youssef En-Nesyri. However, Canada pulled one back before half-time through a Nayef Aguerd own-goal.

Should Ziyech and Co. triumph and Croatia fail to beat Belgium, not only would this be the first FIFA World Cup round of 16 appearance for the one-time AFCON champions since 1986, but they would also win the group ahead of their two European rivals.

And this all started with Hakim's lovely goal.