(fixes spelling of Ouahabi throughout)
FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts, June 19 (Reuters) - Morocco's performance in their 1-0 World Cup victory over Scotland on Friday was better than the North Africans’ impressive showing in their draw with Brazil last week, according to coach Mohamed Ouahbi.
His prognosis came as Ismael Saibari scored the quickest goal of the 2026 tournament so far after 71 seconds to give Morocco a perfect start before they held off a late Scotland surge for a deserved 1-0 win to reach four points in Group C.
“We controlled the whole game and, in terms of efficiency, I saw it as actually better than the first game,” said Ouahbi, whose side caught the eye in their opening 1-1 draw versus Brazil in New York/New Jersey last weekend.
“I see it as progress compared to the first game. So in the end, we are happy with the result; we wanted three points, and we got them. That was the main objective.”
“I believe we controlled the game, but when you don’t score a second goal, obviously, we have to defend because Scotland had a very intense approach with very long balls. But I couldn’t be happier with the performance.”
However, the clash was played against a backdrop of jeers for Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi, hours after a French appeals court confirmed that he will stand trial in a rape case.
The 27-year-old Hakimi, who plays his club football for European champions Paris St Germain, denies the allegation.
Ouahbi sought to deflect questions about what impact the case might have on Hakimi and the rest of the squad.
“Hakimi was extraordinary. He had a very strong game, so we’re very relaxed, and he’s especially relaxed,” the coach said.
Morocco’s place in the next round is not mathematically certain, so Ouahbi said he would resist any temptation to rest players for their last group game against Haiti in Atlanta on Wednesday.
“The objective will be to win the game and hopefully be number one in the group. So I’m going to field the best team possible, based on how physically ready the players are,” he added.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Atlanta; Editing by Ken Ferris)
