Morocco made history on Sunday night, beating Argentina 2-0 in the Under-20 FIFA World Cup final in Chile, becoming the second African nation to achieve this feat after Ghana in 2009.
Also, the historic feat means Morocco becomes the first North-African nation to win the U-20 World Cup, and it is the first World Cup win at any age-group level in the country’s history.
A first-half brace from Yassir Zabiri, who plays for FC Famalicao in the Portuguese league, was enough for Morocco to return to Africa as world champions of youth football.
Morocco reached the final by edging South Korea, the United States, and France in the knockout rounds before capping it all off with a win over Argentina.
Ghana paved the way for Africa against South American opposition in 2009 when they beat Brazil, and Morocco has gone on to produce a similar run after defeating Argentina.
The defeat marked Argentina’s first loss in the tournament, a team that was aiming to win the tournament for the seventh time.
Argentina managed to get to the final despite missing its two best players in this age group in Bayer Leverkusen’s Claudio Echeverri and Real Madrid´s Franco Mastantuono.
Argentina’s senior team is the defending World Cup champion and has also qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
It is all celebrations back home in Africa, and Morocco will keep its head up, knowing history has been made in this prestigious competition.
