Morocco defeated the Netherlands in a penalty shootout to advance to the last 16 of the FIFA World Cup  after a thrilling battle in Monterrey finished 1-1 following extra time.

Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou made the crucial save to block the Netherlands’ fourth penalty from Crysencio Summerville, before striker Ismael Saibari stepped up to blast home the winning spot-kick that sealed a 3-2 shootout win on Monday.

The victory sends Morocco into a last-16 clash with Canada  in Houston on Saturday.

An enthralling match had gone to extra time after Issa Diop had glanced in a dramatic equaliser for Morocco in the first minute of stoppage time as the Netherlands had closed in on victory.

The Dutch had taken the lead midway through the second half with a goal from Cody Gakpo, playing just days after his partner had confirmed the death of the couple’s unborn son.

Liverpool forward Gakpo sank to the turf and appeared overcome with emotion as his teammates surrounded him in a prolonged group embrace.

But Morocco forced extra time when an unmarked Diop headed home from substitute Chemsdine Talbi’s cross in injury time.

Morocco had created the better chances in the fractious encounter, which saw players from both sides flying into tackles to test the patience of Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio.

The Atlas Lions almost took the lead on 20 minutes when Neil El Aynaoui glanced an Achraf Hakimi corner goal-wards only to be denied by a superb reflex save from Netherlands goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.

Verbruggen was pressed into action moments later, this time doing well to tip a vicious strike from Hakimi over the bar.

The fierce nature of the contest was on full display midway through the half, when Saibari was lucky to escape sanction after elbowing Jan Paul van Hecke in the face.

The Dutch continued to enjoy plenty of possession but were unable to convert it into goalscoring chances.

Their best effort came on 44 minutes, when Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven uncorked a ferocious shot from the edge of the area that was tipped over by Bounou.

Van Hecke continued to find himself in the thick of the action, and after bloodying his head in a collision in the penalty area, made his presence felt with a crunching tackle that upended El Aynaoui just before half-time.

As the half ended, Saibari just failed to connect with a cross that flashed across the Dutch goal before going behind.

The drama continued into an end-to-end second half, but appeared to have tilted in the Netherlands’ favour when coach Ronald Koeman brought on forward Wout Weghorst in a flurry of substitutions after the hydration break.

Weghorst made an immediate impact, flicking on a long ball to send Summerville bearing in on goal. Summerville crossed to Gakpo, who hurled himself at the ball to score.

The Netherlands, superbly marshalled by Gakpo’s Liverpool teammate Virgil van Dijk, appeared to be heading for victory, but Diop’s late header sent it to extra time.

Morocco looked to have made the breakthrough when Soufiane Rahimi went through on goal in the 96th minute, only to be denied by a jaw-dropping save from Verbruggen.

The Netherlands held on for penalties, but despite Morocco missing their first when El Aynaoui hit the bar, the North Africans recovered to win.

Germany’s World Cup 2026 campaign is over after a shock defeat – arguably the competition’s greatest – by Paraguay in the round of 32.

The Germans trailed 1-0 at half-time to Julio Enciso’s 42nd-minute header from Matias Galarza’s cross on Monday.

It was a limp display by the four-time winners in the first period, but they drew level in the second half, when Kai Havertz scored eight minutes after the restart with a glancing header from Florian Wirtz’s ball in from the flank.

Germany then had a Jonathan Tah goal from a corner ruled out after a VAR review for a foul on Paraguay’s keeper, and with no further goal, the game went to spot kicks after extra time.

Havertz, who helped Arsenal end a 22-year wait to win the English Premier League title this season, missed the opening kick of the shootout. The forward’s side would miss three kicks in total, as Paraguay, who themselves missed two kicks, eventually prevailed 4-3.

Nick Woltemade and Tah were the other two German players to suffer the pain of penalty misses, while Paraguay’s Jose Canale scored ‌the decisive spot kick.

Germany were ranked number 10 in the world by the game’s governing body, FIFA, entering the tournament, while Paraguay were ranked 41st.

The German defeat is potentially the greatest upset in World Cup football, but is surely the biggest at the knockout stage.

The previous match it surpasses was another German defeat at the US 1994 World Cup, when a Hristo Stoichkov-inspired Bulgaria knocked out the defending champions in the quarterfinals.

Stoichkov, then a Barcelona player, was named the Ballon d’Or winner for 1994, while Bulgaria were ranked 29th in the world at the time.

It was the Germans’ first defeat on penalties at a World Cup, and they have now failed to reach the last 16 since they last won the competition in 2014.

Paraguay will face ‌either France or Sweden in the last 16 ‌in ‌Philadelphia on July 4.

[Aljazeera]

A century from opener Innocent Kaia, and fifties from Brian Bennett, Craig Ervine and Wessley Madhevere extended Zimbabwe’s dominance on the second day of their one-off Test against Bangladesh. Taijul Islam, the visitors’ lone spinner, took 7 for 138 in an extended spell, but a lack of support from the fast bowlers at the other end meant Zimbabwe had grabbed a 270-run lead by the time they were bowled out.

Bangladesh batted out nine overs in their response, reducing the deficit by 40 runs. However, Richard Ngarava dismissed opener Shadman Islam in this passage of play with a ripper swinging away late, underlining Zimbabwe’s mastery of the Harare conditions.

The game had resumed in Harare with Kaia already past fifty, batting in the company of Brendan Taylor. He passed the century mark in the first session, off 153 deliveries. This was his maiden Test century in just his third game for Zimbabwe.

Even as Kaia was nimble on his feet, seeing out some early seam and bounce, Taylor struggled at the other end. He was the first batter to fall, on 17, when Khaled Ahmed got him edging behind in a tangle, looking to defend outside off.

Success for Bangladesh’s fast bowlers was few and far between for the rest of the day. In fact, across two sessions and a half, they failed to capture a single wicket. Zimbabwe had gone in with four fast bowlers, while Bangladesh had opted for just three. They all erred in line, straying down leg or being too short and wide through the day.

Hasan Mahmud, who did pitch it up as the day went on, went wicketless in his 25 overs at an economy of 4.08. Ebadot Hossain, in his 20 overs, went at an even more expensive rate of 4.80. Khaled – with his 2 for 68, and an economy of 3.09 – was the most disciplined bowler of the lot, but prone to errors in line and length himself.

Even as Bennett joined Kaia for a 107-run partnership for the third wicket, Taijul held up the other end for a majority of it with his tighter lines: he bowled 40.2 overs in total, and took his 19th Test five-wicket haul. He was particularly effective in using the rough outside the right-hander’s leg-stump line, otherwise floating up fuller deliveries on the stumps. In both cases, he beat the outside edge of front-foot defences time and again

Bennett was effective in leaning back and playing behind the square against the fast bowlers, especially when they pitched it short and wide. He played the quickest knock of the Zimbabwe innings – his 59 runs came in just 67 deliveries, at a strike rate of 88.05 – and his wicket came off an unforced error. He ran down the track and smashed a length ball right back to Taijul.

This was the theme of the Zimbabwe innings. Kaia was the next batter dismissed, in the 72nd over, for 140 – he looked to flick another innocuous length ball off his pads, but turned his bat too soon and bunted an edge to silly mid-off.

Another wicket fell in the same over, just two deliveries later, when wicketkeeper-batter Tafadza Tsiga inexplicably ran back for a fatal second run after punching a delivery to midwicket. He was run out sprinting back, after a pause, for the striker’s end.

If Bangladesh had hoped to wrap up the innings quickly, the wickets did not come. Ervine (60) and Madhevere (77*) combined to score a 102-run partnership for the seventh wicket, handing Zimbabwe the decisive advantage for the day. Madhevere, in particular, utilised his big front-foot stride to counter Taijul lobbing it up on a full length outside off, unfurling eight fours – mostly scored in the ‘V’ – during his unbeaten knock.

The unforced errors kept coming at the other end off Taijul. Ervine was out sweeping a delivery drifting down leg, at fine leg. Brad Evans, uncomfortable at the crease during his ten-ball stay, was rapped on the pads for a plumb lbw.

With Zimbabwe seven down, the lower-order batters came out with an intent to hit out. However, from 394 for 7, they added just 16 more runs: Newman Nyamhuri edged an off-break to second slip, where Towhid Hridoy took an excellent diving catch. Ngarava held the pose after being beaten on the slog sweep, but his stumps had been pegged back. And Blessing Muzarabani, the final batter out, was hit on the pads after missing a dead-bat.

Returning to bowl in the final hour of play, Zimbabwe’s bowlers immediately extracted more bounce off the surface, if not much movement. Bangladesh’s openers – Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Shadman – went for extravagant shots when the ball was pitched fuller. Off just the second ball, Mahmudul launched an ill-advised drive, which saw a thick edge fly over second and third slip.

Anti-climactically, Zimbabwe’s sole wicket of the day came in the fifth over with Shadman not attacking, but drawn out into a defense by Ngarava. A full ball swung away ate, and caught the outside edge off his soft hands and flew to slip anyway.

Bangladesh now have nine wickets left and three days of play to come. If the late spell of bowling by Zimbabwe’s fast-bowling quartet was any indication, they might not need all of the latter.

Scores:
Bangladesh 40 for 1 in 9 overs (Mahmudul Hasan Joy 21*) and 140 in 47.2 overs (Mominul Haque 60;  Richard Ngarava 2-18, Blessing Muzarabani 2-19, Nevam Nyamhuri 4-61, Brad Evans 2-30) trail Zimbabwe 410 in 107.2 overs (Innocent Kaia 140, Brian Benett 59,  Craig Ervine 60, Wessly Madhevere 77*;  Taijul Islam 7-138, Khaled Ahmed 2-68) by 230 runs

[Cricinfo]