Morocco U23 4-0 United States U23: Atlas Lions run riot to reach Olympic semis

Morocco cruised into the semi-finals of the Olympic Games with a dominant 4-0 win over the United States on Friday.

Match Report

Achraf Hakimi scored a stumer, with Soufiane Rahimi, Ilias Akhomach and El Mehdi Maouhoub also netting in an emphatic victory as the USA failed to mount a threat.

Nathan Harriel upended Rahimi in the box just before the half-hour mark and the forward made no mistake from 12 yards, stroking the ball just out of Patrick Schulte's reach into the bottom-left corner.

The USA should have equalised in the 59th minute but Walter Zimmermann's nod-down was skewed well wide by Miles Robinson from close range.

Just four minutes later, Morocco doubled their lead – Akhomach darted in behind to rifle Abde Ezzalzouli's drilled cross in at the near post.

Hakimi will take most of the plaudits though, with the Paris Saint-Germain star winning an aerial duel before carrying the ball from the halfway line to the edge of the box and picking out the bottom corner with pinpoint accuracy.

Harriel's sorry day continued as he was penalised harshly for a handball after a VAR check in the 90th minute, and Maouhoub emphatically fired in Morocco's fourth. 

Data Debrief: Atlas Lions roar

Tarik Sektioui could not have asked for a better performance from Morocco, as they outplayed the USA at the Parc des Princes.

They created 2.53 expected goals from their 15 shots, hitting the target with eight of those, and converted all three of their big chances.

One thing is for sure, they will feel very confident going into the final four where they will face either Japan or Spain. 

Line-ups

Morocco U23 XI: Munir, Hakimi, Oussama El Azzouzi, Soufiane Rahimi, Oussama Targhalline, Abde Ezzalzouli, Ilias Akhomach, Zakaria El Ouahdi, Amir Richardson, Mehdi Boukamir, Bilal El Khannouss

Subs: Yassine Kechta, Akram Nakach, El Mehdi Maouhoub, Benjamin Bouchouari, Adil Tahif, Eliesse Ben Seghir, Rachid Ghanimi

United States U23 XI: Walker Zimmerman, Miles Robinson, Djordje Mihailovic, Patrick Schulte, John Tolkin, Griffin Yow, Nathan Harriel, Kevin Paredes, Tanner Tessmann, Jack McGlynn, Paxten Aaronson

Subs: Taylor Booth, Josh Atencio, Gabriel Slonina, Maximilian Dietz, Caleb Wiley, Benja Cremaschi, Duncan McGuire