{"id":145245,"date":"2026-06-30T09:02:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T09:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/diops-late-header-forces-extra-time-as-morocco-stun-netherlands-on-spot-kicks\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T09:02:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T09:02:53","slug":"diops-late-header-forces-extra-time-as-morocco-stun-netherlands-on-spot-kicks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/diops-late-header-forces-extra-time-as-morocco-stun-netherlands-on-spot-kicks\/","title":{"rendered":"Diop\u2019s Late Header Forces Extra Time as Morocco Stun Netherlands on Spot-Kicks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Morocco booked their place in the World Cup last 16 after outlasting the Netherlands in a gripping penalty shootout, with the tie finishing 1-1 after extra time in Guadalupe, Mexico.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Dutch looked to be cruising toward the next round when a flicked header from a late substitute released Crysencio Summerville down the left, who squared for Cody Gakpo to finish calmly in the 72nd minute. The goal carried extra emotional weight, with Gakpo visibly overcome in the celebrations just days after he and his partner had shared news of a painful personal loss.<\/p>\n<p>Morocco refused to fold. With the clock running down, defender Issa Diop rose highest at the back post to head home a stoppage-time equaliser, snatching the game away from the Dutch and forcing extra time.<\/p>\n<p>The additional 30 minutes produced few clear-cut openings, though Morocco came agonisingly close to snatching a winner late on. Soufiane Rahimi worked his way into a one-on-one with the Dutch goalkeeper but was denied by a brilliant reflex save, leaving the contest to be settled from the spot.<\/p>\n<p>The shootout swung back and forth before Morocco\u2019s goalkeeper made the decisive intervention, getting a strong hand to deny one of Netherlands\u2019 attempts. With the pressure mounting, Ismael Saibari stepped up and rolled his penalty calmly into the corner to send Morocco through.<\/p>\n<p>The defeat ended the Netherlands\u2019 tournament at its earliest stage in the nation\u2019s World Cup history, a disappointing exit for a side many had tipped to go deep. Morocco, meanwhile, advance to face co-hosts Canada in the last 16, looking to build on the momentum that carried them to the semifinals four years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kbc.co.ke\/diops-late-header-forces-extra-time-as-morocco-stun-netherlands-on-spot-kicks\/\">Diop\u2019s Late Header Forces Extra Time as Morocco Stun Netherlands on Spot-Kicks<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kbc.co.ke\/\">KBC Digital<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Morocco booked their place in the World Cup last 16 after outlasting the Netherlands in a gripping penalty shootout, with the tie finishing 1-1 after extra time in Guadalupe, Mexico. The Dutch looked to be cruising toward the next round when a flicked header from a late substitute released Crysencio Summerville down the left, who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145245\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}