Morocco’s Triple Threat: Goalkeeper Gambit Stuns France in U20 World Cup Thriller

Mohamed Ouahbi’s tactic paid off. Against France (1-1, 5-4 on penalties) in the U20 World Cup semi-final, the Moroccan coach used all three goalkeepers listed on the match sheet. In the 64th minute, he had to replace starting goalkeeper Yanis Benchaouch (Monaco), who was injured in the leg, with Ibrahim Gomis, the young goalkeeper from Marseille. The latter did the job until the end of extra time, where the Moroccan technician decided to bring in the third goalkeeper, Abdelhakim Mesbahi from AS Far, for the penalty shootout.

In the end, the Lion Cubs won the victory over the Bleuets thanks to the third goalkeeper, who deflected the shot of the young Saint-Étienne player Djylian N’Guessan, giving his team the qualification for the final. The Moroccan U20s will face their Argentine counterparts in the final. For now, it is difficult to know if Yanis Benchaouch will be the starter for this decisive match. But his two substitutes have proven themselves against France, and the coach will be able to count on them.

"I can’t bend my leg for now, but we’ll do some tests and see if it’s serious or not. The most important thing is the victory today. I want to thank Ibrahim Gomis and Abdelhakim Mesbahi because without them, we wouldn’t have won this match. It shows that in Morocco, we have very good goalkeepers, whether they are on the bench or not. Thank you to Bagui (Abdelillah Bagui, the goalkeeping coach) because it’s thanks to him that we have this level," Benchaouch said after the victory, in an interview with Arryadia TV.

Mohamed Ouahbi does not hide his emotion after this historic victory: "We knew it was going to be a tough game. There were strong moments and weak moments. We were able to manage well. In the first half, I found that we had a bit too much madness. We were able to press well, but we had to calm down. We suffered in the second half because we had given a lot in the first. We were able to remain focused, calm and wait for the moments. Now we are enjoying it, we are in the final. I am quite moved, because it is a historic moment, but we want to win the final. We will quickly calm down because what we want is to win the cup. We will go and get it with the same mentality."