2026 World Cup: Morocco defeats the Netherlands in penalties to advance to Round of 16

In the second stunning penalty shootout of the day, Morocco bested the Netherlands in a thrilling Round of 32 matchup to advance to the next round. In an often frantic, consistently physical matchup, neither team was able to break through in the first half, despite the Moroccans getting a couple of big chances. The first half certainly had its highlights, but they were all on the defensive end, including back-to-back saves from Netherlands goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. As the game stayed scoreless into the second half, Morocco held much of the possession, had more shots, and had a more efficient attack, but the Dutch were able to fight the Atlas Lions off in the final third. And in the 72nd minute, Cody Gakpo broke through for the Netherlands, scoring a collected finish off Crysencio Summerville’s impressive pass from the ground. CODY GAKPO GIVES THE NETHERLANDS THE LEAD 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/tlxHfJChaC — FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 30, 2026 Gakpo and his girlfriend announced the death of their unborn son on Saturday, making Monday’s goal an even more special moment. Gakpo immediately fell to his knees after the goal, overcome with emotion; the entire Netherlands team then came off the bench to celebrate with the forward. The entire Netherlands team comes on the field to support an emotional Cody Gakpo 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/ed3jstrHPy — FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 30, 2026 For a moment, that goal was enough to give the Netherlands hope for a win. But Morocco had a different idea: In the first minute of stoppage time, defender Issa Diop found the equalizer with his head. MOROCCO DRAWS LEVEL JUST AS STOPPAGE TIME BEGINS 🇲🇦 pic.twitter.com/dGFLCXmmTJ — FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 30, 2026 That sent the game to extra time, which stayed largely even despite some close chances. In the 97th minute, though, Morocco had what looked like a sure goal thanks to Soufiane Rahimi breaking through the back line, but Verbraggen had an absolutely incredible save, with the ball going off his knee and out of bounds. WHAT A SAVE BY NETHERLAND'S GK BART VERBRUGGEN IN EXTRA TIME 🤯 (via @FOXSports ) pic.twitter.com/5LA7RirUtu — Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 30, 2026 The game came down to penalty kicks. Misses from both teams made the shootout particularly dramatic, bringing it all down to one last kick from striker Ismael Saibari. Saibari had missed a couple of big chances earlier in the match, but redeemed himself with a perfect strike past Verbruggen into the back netting. This story will be updated.