The Morocco U20 team delivered a remarkable performance by beating the United States 3-1 in the quarter-finals of the U20 World Cup in Chile. Yassir Zabiri opened the scoring for the Atlas Lion Cubs in the 31st minute, but Cole Campbell equalized from a penalty before halftime. In the second half, Morocco regained the lead thanks to an own goal by Wynder in the 66th minute. Gessime Yassine then sealed the victory, confirming Moroccan superiority. This win qualifies Morocco U20 for the semi-finals, where they will face either France or Norway.
The Atlas Lion Cubs continue to make Moroccan football history. On Sunday, October 12, 2025, the Morocco U20 national team brilliantly dominated the United States (3-1) in the World Cup quarter-finals in Chile, thereby qualifying for the competition’s semi-finals. This performance was notably driven by an in-form Yassir Zabiri and an Othmane Maamma whose talent shone throughout the match. Reflecting on the match against the United States, the national team coach emphasized his team’s determination to win the title, regardless of the upcoming opponent. He also acknowledged that the initial game plan was not fully executed in the first half.
In the first half, what surprised me a bit was that we did poorly what was planned, it was the initial plan, we just didn’t execute it well. Meanwhile, we changed nothing. We simply returned to the initial plan by showing them videos, saying, ‘Look, this isn’t how we planned to do it, we need to do it properly.’ And when we did it better, we started defending as a unit and pushing forward; we knew very well we could cause them a lot of problems. What also helped us in the second half was that they stopped harassing us; they knew that by pushing too hard to pressure us, they would face counter-attacks, so they became a bit more cautious. We also asked the players to stay calm, to move the ball around to find gaps, and that’s what we did.
According to the national team coach, the main motivation behind the Moroccan team’s results in this competition so far lies in the players’ determination to honor their country, a strength that makes all the difference on the field.
We have a very cohesive group, a very united group, a group that knows it has to make an effort, that knows this is a World Cup. And then I think we really need to calm them down. When you play in a World Cup, when you play matches like these, you don’t need to motivate them more, you don’t need to add anything extra; they know very well that an entire nation is behind them, that there is a king behind them.
The Atlas Lion Cubs have brilliantly qualified for the U20 World Cup semi-finals, 20 years after their last participation in 2005. They will face France next Wednesday in a highly anticipated match. Morocco, the sole African representative in the final four, has the clear ambition of reaching the final and continuing to inspire excitement across an entire continent.