Morocco | Pakistan

Kylian Mbappe recovered from having a first-half penalty saved to score a magnificent opener that set France on their way to a 2-0 win over Morocco in their World Cup quarter-final showdown on Thursday. Mbappe’s weak spot-kick was easily saved by Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, but he made up for that by producing a brilliant curling finish to make it 1-0 on the hour mark. That was Mbappe’s eighth goal at the tournament, moving him level again with Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot, before he came off late on and watched the final minutes with an ice pack around his right ankle. Before exiting, he set up Ousmane Dembele to run through and settle the contest watched by 63,811 at the Gillette Stadium, as France knocked Morocco out, just as they did in 2022. Their 2-0 win four years ago in Qatar came in the semi-finals, and this time the victory for Les Bleus takes them through to the last four. They will face Spain or Belgium in Dallas next Tuesday. France are looking to reach a third consecutive...

Morocco beat the Netherlands 3-2 on penalties on Monday to reach the World Cup last 16 after their Round of 32 tie ended 1-1 following extra time, setting up a meeting with co-hosts Canada. Ismael Saibari converted the winning spot kick after Yassine Bounou saved Crysencio Summerville’s penalty, sending Morocco through after a dramatic contest in which they had forced extra time with a stoppage-time equaliser. Morocco’s Neil El Aynaoui and Dutch substitute Justin Kluivert missed their attempts before Bart Verbruggen appeared to save Soufiane Rahimi’s effort, only for the ball to squirm underneath him and trickle over the line. Quinten Timber then put the ball wide with the Dutch side’s fourth kick, Achraf Hakimi struck the post with the chance to seal victory before Saibari kept his nerve to send Morocco through. The shootout capped a gripping encounter in Monterrey that swung repeatedly in both teams’ favour, with Cody Gakpo’s emotional second-half opener cancelled out by Issa Diop’s stoppage-time header bef...

Five-time winners Brazil needed a superb Vinicius Junior equaliser to draw 1-1 with Morocco in their opening game at the World Cup on Saturday as Scotland marked their return to the tournament after a 28-year absence with a nervy 1-0 victory over Haiti. On the first day to feature four matches at the 48-team tournament, Qatar won the first World Cup point in their history when Miro Muheim’s own goal earned the 2022 tournament hosts a 1-1 draw with Switzerland. The meeting of Brazil and 2022 semi-finalists Morocco at the MetLife Stadium just outside New York City was a clash of the teams ranked sixth and seventh in the world respectively. Ismael Saibari ran through to give Morocco a 21st-minute lead with a clever scoop in the Group C opener, but Vinicius produced a moment of magic to ensure Brazil came away with a point, cutting in from the left and unleashing a thunderous shot to level on 32 minutes. Brazil are chasing a record sixth World Cup title, 24 years after last lifting the trophy, but Saturday’s perf...

Two four-storey buildings collapsed in the Moroccan city of Fez, killing at least 19 people, according to a provisional toll reported by the country’s official news agency on Wednesday. “Sixteen other people were wounded, with varying degrees of severity,” the Maghreb Arabe Press (MAP) agency reported, adding that search operations were still ongoing to “save other people who may be buried under the rubble”. The two adjacent structures, which housed eight families, collapsed overnight in the major northern city’s Al-Moustakbal neighbourhood, in the Al-Massira area, according to MAP. Images from the pre-dawn scene showed first responders carrying a corpse in a grey body bag to waiting emergency vehicles, as residents gathered to watch the rescue efforts. Other workers, using jackhammers and pickaxes, tried to dig through the rubble, occasionally assisted by mechanical excavators. Local authorities have indicated that the toll could rise in the coming hours. MAP reported that safety officials had conducted “nec...

ISLAMABAD - President Asif Ali Zardari has said that Pakistan and Morocco enjoy fraternal ties, based on common faith, shared values, and mutual respect, which need to be further strengthened for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

The Kingdom of Morocco has announced 10 fully funded scholarships for Pakistani and Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) nationals for the academic year 2025-26, according to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan.