Women's World Cup 2023: Morocco earn historic win over South Korea
Morocco earned their first ever win at a Women's World Cup with a shock 1-0 victory over South Korea in Adelaide, Australia, on Sunday.
The Atlas Lionesses, ranked 72nd in the world - 55 places below their opponents - scored a sixth-minute goal through striker Ibtissam Jraidi.
Jraidi glanced in a deft header after getting on the end of a cross from defender Hanane Ait El Haj, marking Morocco's first ever World Cup goal.
"We are just so pleased our efforts have paid off. This victory is for Morocco and Arabs, it's the fruit of our hard work," said Jraidi.
The South Koreans struggled to trouble Morocco's back line, getting no shots on target during the game.
Stay informed with MEE's newsletters
Sign up to get the latest alerts, insights and analysis, starting with Turkey Unpacked
Park Eun-Sun nearly levelled with a diving header which narrowly missed the target, while 16-year-old Casey Phair, the youngest ever player in the tournament, fired wide for the Asian side late in the game.
Seven months after the Moroccan men's fairytale run to the World Cup semi-finals in Qatar, the Atlas Lionesses were the first Arab team to take the field in a Women's World Cup, with this the ninth to be staged, earlier this week.
Sunday's win revives their chances of qualifying for the latter stages of the tournament, after slumping to a heavy 6-0 defeat in their opener against Germany.
The North African side are now level on three points with Germany and Colombia, who face each other later on Sunday.
South Korea, who have now lost two games in a row, will be eliminated if Germany avoid defeat.
During the match, Moroccon defender Nouhaila Benzina became the first ever player to wear a hijab at a Women's World Cup.
Benzina made some crucial defensive interventions during the game, and nearly scored from a set piece when her volley flew over the bar.
"There's a sense of pride for us to pull this first World Cup win out of the bag," said Moroccan coach Reynald Pedros.
"We didn't change our philosophy. The Korean team is not like the German team, and we got off to a blinding start... We were efficient in the box, that was missing against Germany."
Morocco's final group game against Colombia will be played on Thursday in Perth, Western Australia.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
