The controversial last meeting between Argentina and Morocco | OneFootball

The Under-20 National Team is going for the world title on Sunday against the Africans, with whom they share a recent past full of sparks in the Under-23 category at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The Argentine Under-20 National Team returned to the final of a World Cup in their 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 do not share a great historical background but do have a recent precedent with a major scandal.

Last year, the debut of Javier Mascherano's Under-23 team at the Paris Olympic Games was against the Africans, in an evening with an ending impossible to foresee. Towards the end of the first half, Ilias Akhomach worked his magic with a phenomenal backheel to Bilal El Khannouss, who reached the end line and sent a low cross for the arrival of Soufiani Rahimi, who pushed it into the goal.

At the start of the second half, Akhomach again caused trouble on the right, dribbled into the area, and the referee awarded a penalty after a slight push by Julio Soler. Rahimi took responsibility for the shot, sent it across to Gerónimo Rulli, and sealed his brace to extend the lead. Quickly, Argentina found a response and scored through Giuliano Simeone, who had entered minutes earlier, after a shot by Soler that was deflected at the far post.

From there, Mascherano's team went all out in search of the equalizer, which came in the 63rd minute (!) of the second half: Thiago Almada unleashed a powerful shot that the goalkeeper deflected, followed by two crossbars, first from a blast by Nicolás Otamendi and then from a header by Bruno Amione, but the ball landed on the head of Cristian Medina, who established the dramatic equalizer.

However, that's when the scandal began. Moroccan fans threw a firecracker in the substitute bench area, and many invaded the pitch, causing the players to retreat to the locker rooms. Security removed the fans, two hours passed, but the players returned, and the referee finally canceled the goal via VAR due to a prior offside by Amione, and the game resumed, but Argentina ran out of time and fell 2-1. The Albiceleste's journey in that tournament ended in the quarterfinals, where they faced France.

From those teams, mostly composed of older players due to being Under-23 teams plus three older ones, only Soler's figure is repeated now, who will have the chance to avenge that embarrassing 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.