Morocco Set New Record for Biggest ever Victory at FIFA Under-17 World Cup

African champions Morocco completed the biggest victory in FIFA Under-17 World Cup history when they defeated nine-man New Caledonia 16-0 in their Group B clash in Al Rayyan on Sunday but must still wait to see if they have made the Round of 32.

South Africa did book their place in the next stage despite a 3-1 loss to Italy as they finished second in Group B, while Senegal finished top of Group C following a 5-0 victory over the United Arab Emirates. 

Morocco’s huge victory beats Spain’s 13-0 win over New Zealand in 1997, which was the previous largest margin of victory in the competition.

Unfortunately for New Caledonia, they also sit in third (0-10 vs England, 2023) and fourth (0-9 vs Brazil, 2023) on the list, but they had played to a 0-0 draw with Japan earlier in this year’s competition.

Remarkably, Morocco had 10 different scorers in their latest win, but no-one got more than two, while New Caledonia had two players sent off in the first half. 

Oualid Ibn Salah, Abdelali Eddaoudi, Ziyad Baha, Nahël Haddani, Abdellah Ouazane and Ismail El Aoud all scored braces, while Bilal Soukrat, Ilyas Hidaoui and Zakari El Khalfioui all scored one each, to go with an own goal by Steevy Andrew.

Morocco finished third in the pool having lost their first two games to end on three points, but with a +8 goal-difference that boosts their Round of 32 hopes significantly and almost assures them of a place in the knockout stage.

Tunisia must also wait to learn their fate after a 2-0 Group D loss to Belgium meant they too finished third in their pool with three points and a +3 goal-difference.

Bakary Sonko scored a hattrick for Senegal in their impressive victory over UAE, while El Hadji Cisse and Victor Mendy were also on the scoresheet.

South Africa lost 3-1 to a powerful Italy selection despite Shaun Els scoring his second goal of the competition to draw them level in the first half.

Source: CAF