Nathan Harriel (#2) of Team United States battles for the ball during the Paris Olympic quarterfinal match against Morocco on Friday at Parc des Princes stadium.
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Marc Atkins/Getty Images
NPR is in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics. For more of our coverage from the games head to our latest updates.
PARIS — First the World Cup. And now at the Olympics.
Morocco has shocked the soccer world to reach the semifinals of a major tournament.
Unfortunately for the U.S., Morocco’s 4-0 quarterfinal victory sends the scrappy American team home without the chance to play for a medal.
At the 2022 World Cup, Morocco became the first African country to reach the semifinals of the world’s biggest sporting event and now the country makes another deep run at a major tournament. And, with this victory, Morocco is making its deepest run ever at a Summer Games that includes wins over Argentina and the U.S.
At the Olympics, men’s teams have roster restrictions which require nearly all players to be under 23 years old.
In Paris, Morocco started the scoring in the 29th minute with a penalty kick goal by Soufiane Rahimi. After halftime, they added three more goals in the 63rd and 70th minutes and a late penalty kick in the 91st to seal the victory against the Americans.
The U.S. started these Summer Games with a shaky loss to host nation France in the opening match of group play. But then the Americans defeated New Zealand and Guinea to advance to their first quarterfinals appearance since 2000 (and just the second time the U.S. reached the knockout round at an Olympics since the current tournament was introduced in 1960).
The U.S. exits with a 2-2 record.
Next up for Morocco is a semifinal matchup Monday against either Japan or Spain.
