MOROCCO took just three minutes to get on the score board in their Group F game against Canada.

A poor clearance from the Canada keeper Borjan was played right into the path of Hakim Ziyech and the Chelsea forward chipped it into the net from distance.

Ziyech was already strutting his stuff, hitting the wall once and forcing a save from Milan Borjan inside 10 minutes.

Canada grew into the game and would go on to dominate all the stats except the one that mattered.

They were two goals behind on 24 minutes when a fine pass from Achraf Hakimi was nicely tucked away by the arriving Youssef En-Nesyri.

An unfortunate own goal – the first of the tournament – sent heart murmurs through the Moroccan camp as Nayef Aguerd deflected a low cross past his keeper Yassine Bono (2-1) in the 41^st minute.

That would be the last goal of the game, thanks to the organised and (mostly) calm and composed Moroccan defenders who stood strong against waves of Canadian attacks.

The Atlas Lions would not have another strike on target while the Canooks were racking up shots and corners at a rapid rate but the Moroccans seemed unperturbed at all the time spent on their doorstep.

The big scare came at 72 minutes when Hutchinson’s header hit the underside of the crossbar and half the ball crossed the line. Fortunately, VAR replays end all arguments and debates nowadays.

There was one last fright for the Africans close to the whistle when keeper Bono, who was on song for most of the game, showed that you too can make a mistake as he fumbled but managed to just hold on to the ball.

Morocco go through, unbeaten in the group as the day ends the way it started: 1 Morocco, 2 Croatia, 3 Belgium, 4 Canada.