The controversial last meeting between Argentina and Morocco | OneFootball

The U-20 National Team will go for the world title on Sunday against the Africans, with whom they share a recent history full of sparks at the U-23 level in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The Argentina U-20 National Team returned to a World Cup final in its category after 18 years of waiting by defeating Colombia, and on Sunday their opponent for the title will be Morocco, a team with which they presumably don’t share a vast historical background but do have a recent precedent involving a major scandal.

Last year, Javier Mascherano’s U-23s debuted at the Paris Olympic Games against the Africans, on a night with an ending impossible to foresee. Near the end of the first half, Ilias Akhomach produced some magic with a phenomenal backheel to Bilal El Khannouss, who reached the byline and sent in a low cross for the arrival of Soufiane Rahimi, who tapped it in for the goal.

At the start of the second half, Akhomach once again caused problems on the right, dribbled into the box, and the referee awarded a penalty after a slight push by Julio Soler. Rahimi took the spot-kick, slotted it across Gerónimo Rulli, and sealed his brace to extend the lead. Argentina quickly found a response and pulled one back through Giuliano Simeone, who had come on minutes earlier, after a shot by Soler that was redirected at the far post.

From there, Mascherano’s men threw everything forward in search of the equalizer, which arrived in the 63rd (!) minute of the second half: Thiago Almada unleashed a powerful shot that the goalkeeper parried; then the ball hit the crossbar twice—first from a thunderbolt by Nicolás Otamendi and then after a header by Bruno Amione—but it fell to the head of Cristian Medina, who made it 2-2 in dramatic fashion.

However, that’s when the scandal began. Moroccan fans threw a stun bomb in the area of the bench and many invaded the pitch, prompting the players to head to the locker rooms. Security removed the fans, two hours passed, but the protagonists returned, and the referee ultimately disallowed the goal via VAR due to a prior offside by Amione, and play resumed, but Argentina ran out of time and lost 2-1. The Albiceleste’s path in that tournament ended in the quarterfinals, where they faced France.

From those squads—mostly made up of older players since they were U-23 teams plus three overage—only Soler’s presence is repeated now, and he will have the chance to avenge that disgraceful day, with nothing less than the World Cup at stake.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.