{"id":214479,"date":"2026-06-20T13:12:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T13:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/morocco-beat-scotland-through-quickest-goal-of-2026-world-cup-so-far-live-updates-and-reaction-the-new-york-times\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T13:12:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T13:12:41","slug":"morocco-beat-scotland-through-quickest-goal-of-2026-world-cup-so-far-live-updates-and-reaction-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/morocco-beat-scotland-through-quickest-goal-of-2026-world-cup-so-far-live-updates-and-reaction-the-new-york-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Morocco beat Scotland through quickest goal of 2026 World Cup so far: Live updates and reaction – The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Cup
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Ismael Saibari\u2019s goal after just 71 seconds was enough for Morocco to defeat Scotland 1-0 at the 2026 World Cup.<\/strong>
Saibari beat Angus Gunn with a thumping early finish to double his tally at this World Cup, having also found the net in Morocco\u2019s 1-1 draw with Brazil last week.
Scotland poured forward late on and had two penalty appeals waved away by the referee. But they could not find an equaliser, with Morocco moving above them in Group C.
The United States<\/strong> ascended to the top of the Group D standings with a 2-0 win over Australia, and its supporters may have interest in tuning into tonight's game.
If Paraguay<\/strong> holds Turkey<\/strong> to a draw or loss, the United States will secure first place. USMNT already sealed a spot in the knockout stage earlier today.
Paraguay-Turkey will kick off at 11 p.m. ET and 8 p.m. PT, which is local time at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara. Be sure to check out our live blog<\/a> for coverage of tonight's action!
We keep banging on about this but the standard of goals at the 2026 finals is frankly a joke. And Ismael Saibari <\/strong>seems to be having his own individual goal-of-the-tournament competition.
He drew first blood against Brazil with a lovely chip in Morocco\u2019s first game \u2014 the recipient of a killer pass through midfield from Brahim Diaz<\/strong> \u2014 and the strike that opened the scoring against Scotland was better again, assisted by the same player.
Saibari and Diaz clearly understand exactly where they are in each other\u2019s orbit. Scotland opened the door by leaving a dog leg in their defence (Grant Hanley<\/strong> deeper than everybody else in the back four) but Diaz timed a floated pass from the touchline nicely, keeping Saibari onside.
Saibari\u2019s touch was deft, and his raking finish across Angus Gunn<\/strong> was too fierce to stop. It\u2019s all the explanation you need for why Bayern Munich are in the process of buying Saibari from PSV. It isn\u2019t often that a World Cup game has part of the crowd chanting \u2018ole!\u2019 by minute five.
Scotland head coach spoke to BBC Scotland:
💬 "I thought we were good. Terrible start but the reaction to that was good. We had to dig in for five or 10 minutes just to get our feet in the game.<\/em><\/strong>
"Once we were in the game, we showed we could cause them problems. The disappointment would be that we didn't create the one clear cut chance that would have got us the point.<\/em><\/strong>
"This team are ready to go again. We're here to try and do what no Scottish team has done before. We gave it everything tonight, and we'll try and do it again."<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Morocco<\/strong> captain Achraf Hakimi<\/strong> was booed by a large contingent of Scotland<\/strong> supporters almost every time he touched the ball during this game. It started off as a background noise but it soon gathered pace and reverberated around Gillette Stadium.
When Hakimi went over to take a corner in the 20th minute the boos escalated, and again in the 39th minute when he bundled over Kieran Tierney<\/strong> to deny Scotland a counter-attacking opportunity.
It was confirmed on Friday that Hakimi will stand trial on rape charges.
The accusation relates to an incident alleged to have occurred in February 2023, when a 24-year-old woman claimed Hakimi assaulted her. The player has always denied wrongdoing and said in a statement on X prior to kick-off: \u201cI\u2019ve been waiting for this trial since day one. And now I\u2019m looking forward to it. Finally, I will be able to speak.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
Scotland's Ryan Christie spoke to BBC Scotland after the defeat:
💬 "Had we played another five minutes, we might just have had them.<\/em><\/strong>
"It's frustrating. The start to the game wasn't exactly how we planned it. It would have been easy to chase the game and get a bit disjointed. <\/em><\/strong>
"But we limited them to very little second half and started to play our football.<\/em><\/strong>
"It just wasn't to be."<\/em><\/strong>
Chances did not come easily for Scotland<\/strong>, and they were never likely to. With an hour gone, their expected goals (xG) total was sitting at 0.2, minus a shot on target.
In those circumstances, they needed little margins to go for them and their shout for a penalty when John McGinn<\/strong> was challenged by Issa Diop<\/strong> in the 48th minute was a strong one.
McGinn was going down the right side of Morocco<\/strong>\u2019s defence and had slipped the ball in front of Diop as the centre-back ran across to cover. Diop went in with his right leg, failed to connect with the ball and bundled McGinn to the floor with a bump to his hip. The referee waved it away in real time, and VAR wasn\u2019t moved to intervene.
Diop probably got away with one but the same could as easily be said of the ball hitting Grant Hanley<\/strong>\u2019s hand \u2013 again, with no consequences \u2013 during Scotland\u2019s 1-0 win over Haiti. McGinn\u2019s shout was stronger than a later one from Scott McTominay<\/strong>. As the saying goes, these decisions even themselves out (sometimes).
A much better second half from the Scots, but Morocco were still the better side on paper.
This was the earliest ever winning goal in a 1-0 win in FIFA World Cup history, with Ismael Saibari<\/strong>'s goal netted after 70 seconds. The previous earliest was England against Paraguay in 2006 (3rd minute).
Scotland<\/strong> failed to record a shot on goal in today's defeat, and their next matchup, the final of the group stage, could be even more of a challenge.
On June 24, Scotland will play Brazil<\/strong> at 6 p.m. ET in Miami. A victory would ensure Scotland's spot in the knockout round. With a defeat, Scotland would hope for a third-place spot in the Round of 32.
The Athletic<\/em><\/strong>'s projection model gives Scotland a 62 per cent chance of advancing with a loss and a 38 per cent chance of elimination.
Scotland midfielder Lewis Ferguson spoke to ITV after the game:
💬 "It was the worst possible start. We didn't touch the ball and gave away a slack goal. It was really unlike us. <\/em><\/strong>
The reaction after that was sound. We were growing into the game and half-time came at a bad time for us. <\/em><\/strong>
The second half was outstanding. The desire to get something out of the game was magnificent.<\/em><\/strong>
"It shows you how difficult it is to win a game at the World Cup.<\/em><\/strong>
"I'm delighted with the performance but gutted with the result. I think we deserved a point."<\/em><\/strong>
Coming off their first victory of the World Cup, Morocco<\/strong> is in excellent shape with their easiest matchup still to come.
Morocco will take on last-place Haiti<\/strong> at 6 p.m. ET on June 24 in Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Independent of other results, a victory against Haiti would give Morocco a 60 per cent chance of taking the top spot in Group C, per The Athletic<\/em>'s projection model.
The model also gives Morocco greater than a 99 per cent chance of advancing to the knockout round after today's result.
The one-goal final margin wasn't the only stat that demonstrated the tight competition of Morocco<\/strong>–Scotland<\/strong>.
Reader Asta Q.<\/em> broke out the advanced stats to quantify how close today's Group C contest turned out to be.
Reader fzalaoui<\/em> pointed to Morocco<\/strong>'s quick start and defence as major reasons for optimism from today's result.
Morocco<\/strong>'s 1-0 win over Scotland<\/strong> resulted in a switch at the top of the Group C table, and the order could see further movement with tonight's match between Brazil<\/strong> and Haiti<\/strong>.
With a victory tonight, Brazil would tie Morocco at the top of the table with four points and drop Scotland to third place. A Haiti upset victory would be much more chaotic, relegating Brazil to last place and boosting Haiti into serious knockout round contention.
Check out our live blog here <\/a>for comprehensive coverage and insights!
Morocco<\/strong>\u2019s clean sheet against Scotland<\/strong> in today's 1-0 win echoed the squads\u2019 only other World Cup matchup, in 1998.
On June 23, 1998, Morocco blanked Scotland 3-0, taking a 1-0 first-half lead and continuing their strong play the rest of the way.
Today's outcome will be more pivotal. Morocco's win in the 1998 matchup was their only victory of the tournament, as they failed to qualify for the knockout stage. Morocco's win today move Morocco into first place in the Group C table with four points. Scotland drop to second, though their hopes of advancing are far from squelched.<\/p>\n

1990s soccer video game Kick-Off 2 had 24 referees \u2014 one of whom was notoriously lenient and would allow almost any challenge to go unpenalised.
Thought of him during that second half.
The World Cup match with the quickest goal so far ultimately turned out to be one of the lowest-scoring of the tournament.
Ismael Saibari<\/strong> scored 71 seconds into the action, which ended up one of only two shots on goal during the game (both for Morocco<\/strong>).
In lieu of brilliant goal scoring, the most interesting aspect became the transformation of Scotland<\/strong> over the course of the match. Scotland appeared stunned by Saibari's strike and struggled to maintain possession. It took until added time in the first half for Morocco to even face a shot.
Scotland never found the net after the break, but their second-half aggressiveness against one of the field's best teams made for a more competitive and entertaining second half with the outcome in doubt up until Scotland's final corner attempt.
The Athletic's projection model still has Scotland<\/a> with a 76 per cent chance of progressing to the round of 32.
They stand a 54 per cent chance of finishing third, which would see them play a group winner from Group A, E or I in Boston, Mexico City or New York
I've just seen the McTominay<\/strong> incident again: yes, penalty for me.
It was a slight touch, but it denied a shooting opportunity in a good position and it was a clumsy tackle, from a bad position, with little chance of winning the ball.
Team Stats
SCO
MAR
Game Details<\/p>\n

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World CupAdvertisementIsmael Saibari\u2019s goal after just 71 seconds was enough for Morocco to defeat Scotland 1-0 at the 2026 World Cup.Saibari beat Angus Gunn with a thumping early finish to double his tally at this World Cup, having also found the net in Morocco\u2019s 1-1 draw with Brazil last week.Scotland poured forward late on and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":214480,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-214479","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}