Dutch knocked out of 2026 World Cup after miserable penalty shootout

Earlier, it looked like a poignant goal from Cody Gakpo would win it in regulation time for the Netherlands.

Gakpo’s partner announced the loss of their unborn son at the weekend and the Liverpool striker collapsed on the pitch in tears with his head in his hands after putting his team ahead with 18 minutes remaining. He was quickly surrounded by teammates eager to show their support.

Morocco weren’t done though and Issa Diop, a centre-back pressed forward in an act of desperation, headed home the stoppage-time equalizer to save his side.

Goalkeepers stand out in a scoreless first half

The first period was notable with good saves by goalkeepers Bart Verbruggen and Yasin Bunu.

The Dutch had the better of the opening 20 minutes, but Morocco burst into life shortly before the first hydration break with captain Achraf Hakimi prominent, winning his 100th cap.

The Paris Saint-Germain full-back swung in a corner from the right, which Neil El Ainaoui headed into the corner, but his header was brilliantly saved by Brighton keeper Verbruggen.

A minute later, Hakimi tried his luck from the edge of the box, forcing Verbruggen to curl his powerful shot over the bar.

The Dutch hit back after 43 minutes with Micky Van de Ven getting forward and taking a powerful shot that Bunu was able to tip over.

Morocco finished the first half with the upper hand with Azzedine Unahi firing wide and Saibari just couldn’t get on the end of Hakimi’s brilliant free-kick that eluded Van de Ven at the far post.

Morocco comes out on top while the Netherlands fades

If the first half was tense, the second was anything but, at least for the first 25 minutes, when Morocco started to dominate, especially in midfield, with Ayoub Bouadi, Unahi and El Ainaoui seeing a lot of the ball.

The tactic seemed to be to stay patient until they managed to slot a ball over the top for Hakimi.

They did try six minutes after half-time when the PSG full-back broke through, but instead of scoring for Saibari, he headed towards goal and hit his shot off the post.

He was free again four minutes later but was denied by a superb covering strike from Van de Ven, one of the few players who can match the Moroccan flyer for speed.

Koeman had seen enough and opted to make a few changes with Brian Brobbey and Nathan Ake coming off and the formation changing to a 4-3-3.

The impact was immediate. Brobbey Wout Weghorst’s first touch of the substitution was to take a shot from Verbruggen’s goal for Summerville and despite being fouled he was able to direct the ball to Gakpo to fire past Bounou.

It looked like Morocco’s challenge was gone, but boss Mohamed Wahbi also rolled the dice to great effect.

Chemsdine Talby was brought on and the Sunderland winger equalized in the first minute of added time, curling in a superb cross from the left which Diop met to head past Verbruggen.

There was still time for Summerville to contest cleanly, but a superb challenge from Noussair Mazraoui ensured the game went to extra time.

Dutch goalkeeper Verbruggen keeps Morocco at bay

Talby proved a threat for the Dutch and another break down the left almost created a second goal five minutes into extra time. He played the ball to substitute Sufian Rahimi, who teed up Virgil van Dijk but then fired straight at Verbruggen, who had spread himself well.

Morocco continued to probe but found space behind the Dutch defense at a premium to Koeman’s satisfaction for his players to relax and play to standards.

In the end, the tactic didn’t work with the Netherlands now heading home.