World Cup 2022: Morocco Advances after Belgium's Shocking Elimination During a Croatia match

Morocco and Croatia from Group F.

Romelu Lukaku of Belgium reacts following the conclusion of their World Cup group F match against Croatia on December 1, 2022, in Al Rayyan, Qatar. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

In the final FIFA rankings, Belgium was ranked No. 2 going into the World Cup, but now that the knockout stage is almost complete, they are out of the tournament.

Belgium's stalemate with Croatia and Morocco's 2-1 victory over Canada meant they were eliminated from contention for the tournament after failing to take advantage of the "golden generation" of the national team. From Group F, Croatia and Morocco will advance to the knockout stage.

Ivan Perisic of Croatia goes up for the ball against players of Belgium during the World Cup group F match on Thursday, December 1, 2022, at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

The 90th minute presented a fantastic opportunity for Belgium's Romelu Lukaku. A Croatian defender's head deflected a cross, which subsequently deflected off Lukaku's body. The Croatian goalie Dominik Livakovic caught the ball as it rolled away from the goal and into his arms.

Lukaku also missed a few further opportunities to score.

After that, Croatia sealed the 0-0 draw.

Morocco was able to take a 2-1 lead after the first half and hold Canada without a goal in the second.

In the fourth minute of the game, Hakim Ziyech gave Morocco the lead after slipping the ball past Milan Borjan from a distance of yards. Borjan erred severely and strayed too far. His clear went wrong, and Ziyech profited from it.

In the 23rd minute, Youssef En-Nesyri added to the score. If not for Canada's goal in the 40th minute, Morocco might have also kept a perfect score.

On December 1, 2022, Morocco triumphs over Canada in a World Cup match at the Al Thumama Stadium in Doha, Qatar. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

2018 World Cup runners-up Croatia lost to France in the championship match. For the second time in the history of its country, Morocco is once again in the World Cup knockout round. They achieved that in 1986.

Source: Fox News