Soufiane Rahimi scored, then cried. His first-ever FIFA World Cup goal came in Morocco’s 4-2 win over Haiti in the final group-stage match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the reaction inside the Morocco camp was immediate.
Achraf Hakimi said on ABtalks that the moment hit the squad hard. “For Rahimi, his story is very emotional if you know where he started and what he went through,” he said.
Hakimi on Rahimi’s tears
Hakimi did not frame the goal as a routine finish. He said, “He worked very hard and made many sacrifices to become the player he is today.”
That was the backdrop for Rahimi’s celebration after he scored Morocco’s third goal in the 4-2 victory. The goal stood out because it was his first at the FIFA World Cup, and the celebration turned into a team moment rather than a solo one. Rahimi seals 4-2 win
Morocco felt the moment
Hakimi said the reaction spread beyond Rahimi himself. “When he scored his first World Cup goal and started crying, we were all touched,” he said.
He added, “We almost cried with him because he is one of us.” That line explains why the scene resonated inside the squad: the goal was not just a number on the scoreboard, but a milestone tied to work, pressure, and the path that led him there.
The Morocco significance
Rahimi’s tears became one of the tournament’s most memorable moments for the Atlas Lions. The emotion came after the scoring, not before it, and that sequence is what made the image linger: the finish, the release, and the group response all arrived together in Rabat’s wider World Cup conversation.
For Morocco, the practical takeaway is simple. Rahimi is now on the board at the FIFA World Cup, and Hakimi’s comments show how much that breakthrough meant to the players around him. The goal changed Rahimi’s tournament record; the reaction told the rest of the story.
