Morocco silences Scotland’s Tartan Army with second-minute tally

FOXBOROUGH — The Tartan Army, 50,000 strong from Scotland, came, saw, and conquered Boston in the last week. They stormed Fenway Park, tapped Boston’s beer and ranch dressing supply, nearly got haggis legalized, and last Saturday watched Scotland win its first World Cup match in 36 years.

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The party finally came to a halt Friday night in Foxborough. A superior Morocco squad, not shy in talking about its goal of reaching the World Cup final, scored in the second minute and throttled Scotland’s attack the rest of the match for a 1-0 win in Group C play.

“Proud of the players, but obviously we’re all devastated and disappointed we didn’t get the result we wanted,” Scotland manager Steve Clarke said.

Midfielder Ismael Saibari, Morocco’s goal scorer in its 1-1 draw with Brazil in its opener, put the Atlas Lions ahead just 1 minute, 11 seconds into the match. He corralled a chip from attacker Brahim Díaz, raced in unopposed down the right side, and fired a rocket past Scotland goalie Angus Gunn into the upper left corner.

That was all the offense needed by the 2022 surprise semifinalists, who entered the tournament No. 7 in the FIFA world rankings. The Atlas Lions managed just two quality chances over the final 100 minutes, but their defense stonewalled No. 42 Scotland. Morocco outshot Scotland, 12-6, and didn’t allow the Tartans to put any on net. According to ESPN, Saibari’s goal was the earliest game-winning goal in a 1-0 match in World Cup history.

“We dominated. We controlled the whole game,” Morocco manager Mohamed Ouahbi said. “I’m not going to think, ‘Oh my gosh, darn it, we should have scored a second time.’ [Scotland] pushed, they were very aggressive, they wanted to win, and despite all of that we were very robust.”

The win gave Morocco 4 points through two games, tied atop Group C with Brazil, which now has a better goal differential after defeating Haiti, 3-0, later Friday. Scotland, looking to advance past the group stage for the first time in nine Cup appearances, remains with 3 points after defeating Haiti in its opener, 1-0.

FIFA announced another “full house” on Friday with 64,146 fans in attendance, though there were several noticeable blocks of empty seats in the club, suite and upper levels. Scotland’s Tartan Army, wearing navy blue on Friday after donning Scottish salmon last week, still was the dominant fan base inside. They dressed in their finest kilts, wore traffic cones on their heads, held bagpipe processions in the concourses, and belted out the words to their anthem, “Flower of Scotland.”

But even the most fervent fans had to know their team was overmatched. Morocco made history four years ago as the first African nation and first Arab nation to reach the World Cup semifinals when they upset Spain and Portugal before being ousted by France.

Morocco pushed its unbeaten streak to 39 matches Friday, and its players have openly spoken about the team’s championship dreams.

“Our mentality has changed,” midfielder Azzedine Ounahi said Thursday. “We came in to go further than we did in 2022.

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“We have a new generation, a lot of talent, a very complete squad. We have what we need to go even further.”

Their fans also held their own against the fun-loving Scots despite most following a Muslim prohibition from drinking alcohol. Thousands of red-clad Moroccans filled the stands, pounding drums, wearing fezzes, and out-cheering the Scottish fans for much of the night.

Morocco is in strong position to finish top-two in Group C, but trails Brazil in goal differential by 2.

The Lions likely need to run up the score in their final group match Wednesday in Atlanta against Haiti, the second-lowest ranked team in the tournament (83rd).

“The end result is we’re happy. We wanted 3 points and we got them,” Ouahbi said. “When you’re in the World Cup, every single match is difficult, and that’s the charm of it all.”

After pumping untold dollars and good cheer into Boston for the past week, the Tartan Army heads to Miami for its final group match and a chance to watch Scotland perhaps finally reach the knockout round.

With the tournament expanding to 48 teams, and 32 teams advancing, Scotland may only need a tie in its final match. The opponent is perhaps the Scots’ biggest challenge yet: No. 6 Brazil, the five-time champions.

But the Scots aren’t letting Friday’s loss squelch their optimism.

“You have to let the players suffer a little bit over the next 48 hours, they don’t like losing,” Clarke said. Morocco is “top 10 in the world, but we gave them a good game, and we’re sure we can compete at this level.”

FIFA offered a scoreboard tribute in the 76th minute to Scottish fan Donny Strathie, 76, who died unexpectedly in his Norwood hotel Sunday.

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