BOSTON, June 20 — Morocco claimed a 1-0 victory over Scotland on Friday thanks to a lightning-fast goal from Ismael Saibari, the fastest strike at the FIFA World Cup 2026 so far.
In just the second minute, Saibari fired Brahim Diaz’s pass from the right side into the top-left corner. The goal, timed at 71 seconds, set a new tournament mark for the quickest goal to date. Morocco, who sits sixth in the FIFA World Ranking and 31 places above Scotland, almost replicated its opener in the 18th minute, but Scotland goalkeeper Angus Gunn prevented Achraf Hakimi from applying the finishing touch to another clever clipped pass from Diaz into the penalty area. Scotland’s defense came under pressure, and its first goal attempt came in first-half stoppage time, when John McGinn’s shot flew over the bar.
Morocco showed its strength with dynamic attacking, quick defending, and creative passing, but Scotland has responded impressively, especially after half-time. Goalkeeper Gunn beat away a header from Bilal El Khannouss in the 52nd minute and Scotland created some danger in the 63rd minute when Ryan Christie’s powerful shot went wide. Scott McTominay went down in the area in the 82nd minute as he drove into the box, but referee Ilgiz Tantashev was unmoved. The Napoli midfielder then went close again in the 85th minute, but his shot hit the side netting.
Morocco pressed hard but failed to extend its lead. Ayoube Amaimouni created a chance in stoppage time after cutting inside and curling narrowly wide of the far post. “We wanted three points and we got them,” Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said. “That was the main objective. I believe that we were actually very good in the whole match, we controlled it. When you don’t score a second time, obviously you have to defend based on their very intense style, very long balls but I believe that we actually played very well and were very happy with the performance.” Morocco will face Haiti in its last group match on June 24, while Scotland will meet Brazil on the same day. “I think we can go pretty far but as I said, we will take it game by game. The next game is Haiti. Now we will see how we can go further. We have our objectives and our goals and we will work towards them,” said Saibari.
The Atlas Lions, who finished fourth in the 2022 World Cup, top Group C with four points, while Scotland remains on three. “It’s frustrating. The start to the game wasn’t exactly how we planned it. It would have been easy to chase the game. But we limited them to very little in the second half and started to play our football,” said Scotland’s winger Ryan Christie. Scotland coach Steve Clarke still has confidence in his team. “We gave them a game,” he said. “We’re sure we can compete at this level.” “Our performance probably deserves a point,” Scotland’s Lewis Ferguson shared.
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