Since 2022, Morocco’s Football Federation has given the nation something new to celebrate almost weekly. It first began with the senior men’s team, who shocked the world with their historic run to the semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, later becoming the national side with the most consecutive wins in international football.
A year later, the women followed suit, becoming the first Arab team to ever qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup— and then pushing even further by reaching the knockout stages. More recently, the U-20s made history of their own, becoming the first Arab— and only the second African— team to win a U-20 World Cup.
Now, the North African Kingdom has added another record to its growing list: the most goals scored in a single World Cup match across any age and gender group.
At the U-17 FIFA World Cup currently underway in Qatar, Morocco delivered a jaw-dropping 16–0 win over New Caledonia in the group stages of the competition; a demolition that saw the Young Atlas Lions register 81 shots to their opponents’ three, including 29 on target.
New Caledonia finished the first half with nine men after two red cards were handed out before the 35-minute mark, already trailing 3–0. From there, it was target practice: a one-way spectacle Morocco will happily archive, and one their opponents will be trying to forget for a very long time.
Despite the historic win, Morocco’s place in the knockout stages still isn’t guaranteed, as their progress will depend on other team results and their final group fixture. Having lost their first two games (2–0 to Japan and 6–0 to Portugal), they now find themselves playing catch-up, with their record-breaking win versus New Caledonia acting as damage control more than a ticket through (for now).