Ukrainian Football Players Win against Morocco at Olympics

The Ukrainian national football team has played its second match at the Olympic Games. In the match against Morocco, the Ukrainians won 2-1.

This is reported by the Ukrainian edition of Suspilne Sport.

Ukraine started the 2024 Olympics with a 1-2 defeat against Iraq. The Ukrainians opened the scoring, but eventually lost the match.

In the second match of the tournament, Ukraine played against Morocco. In case of defeat, the Ukrainians would have lost their chances of reaching the playoffs early. Any other result, including a win, would have kept the Blue and Yellows in the fight for the quarter-finals.

The Ukrainians opened the scoring in the middle of the first half. In the 22nd minute, Maksym Bragaru's shot from the flank was headed home by Dmytro Kryskiv.

In the first half, the Ukrainians were the only ones to create chances. Midfielder Maksym Khlan scored twice on Morocco's goal, but his shots were parried by the goalkeeper. At the end of the first half, Arseniy Batagov scored after a Kryskiv cross, but the ball went over the goal after a defender's shot.

But after the break, Morocco began to create chances at the Ukrainian goal. First, Ashraf Hakimi and then Bilal El Hannous scored over the top.

Eventually, Morocco managed to equalise in the middle of the first half. Volodymyr Saliuk broke the rules in the penalty area. Subsequently, the defender was punished with a penalty for a last-ditch foul, and forward Soufiane Rahimi converted an 11-metre penalty.

Despite the fact that Ukraine remained in the minority, the Blue and Yellows tried to regain the winning result. In particular, forward Oleg Krasnopir had a chance to score when he shot straight at the goalkeeper's feet.

The last minutes of the match were played with the Moroccan national team being active. However, the African representatives were unable to realise their numerical advantage.

In the 90+8th minute, Ihor Krasnopir closed the flank shot. The referees reviewed the episode for VAR, but in the end it was counted.

Ukraine defeats Morocco 2-1

Group B standings

1. Argentina - 3 points (2 matches), 4:3 (goal difference)

2. Morocco - 3 (2), 3:3

3. Ukraine - 3 (2), 3:3

4. Iraq - 3 (2), 3:4

As The Gaze previously reported, the opening ceremony of the XXXIII Summer Olympic Games took place in Paris on Friday evening.