30, June 2026
World Cup: Morocco beat Netherlands on penalties to reach round of 16 0
Morocco defeated the Netherlands on penalties after a dramatic 1-1 draw following extra time in Monterrey to book their place in the World Cup round of 16. Cody Gakpo’s second-half opener looked set to send the Dutch through before Issa Diop headed home deep into stoppage time.
The Atlas Lions’ goalkeeper Yassine Bounou made the crucial save to block the Netherlands’ fifth penalty from Crysencio Summerville before striker Ismael Saibari stepped up to blast home the winning spot-kick that sealed a 3-2 shootout win.
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 closed in on victory.
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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 he was surrounded by team-mates 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 of a 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 al-Aynaoui glanced an Achraf Hakimi corner goalwards 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.
2-hour drama
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 team-mate 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.
Source: AFP
30, June 2026
Spain: undocumented migrant amnesty scheme draws more than a million applicants 0
More than one million undocumented migrants in Spain have sought legal status under a scheme that has defied a wider European crackdown on irregular immigration, the government said on Tuesday, the final day for submissions.
The vast scheme was predicted to benefit around 500,000 people, most from Latin America, when the left-wing government launched it in April.
“The more than one million applications submitted… show how necessary this recognition of rights and responsibilities was,” Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told an event in Madrid.
Sanchez has become a standard bearer of more open immigration policies as his European neighbours – including some Socialist peers – toughen measures in response to pressure from ascendant far-right parties.
He has long argued that immigrants are needed to sustain the economy, the welfare state and pensions amid Spain’s ageing population and depopulation in rural regions.
The number of applications submitted does not necessarily indicate the number of migrants who will secure their legal status.
Applicants must prove they have a clean criminal record and spent at least five consecutive months in Spain before January 1.
The authorities have three months to process their paperwork and decide whether to issue a work and residence permit only valid in Spain.
“When we condemn a person to invisibility, I think we make our country a worse country. We all lose,” Sanchez explained, saying his government aimed to “offer an opportunity and future” to migrants.
“We want the world to view Spain as a country that respects, protects and upholds human rights.”
Economic boost
For Juana Hernandez, a 59-year-old Cuban who has lived in Spain for two and a half years and whose application was recently approved, the plan “is a huge opportunity”.
She told AFP she had paid a lawyer roughly €200 ($225) to handle the administrative formalities “to be on the safe side”, as well as receiving help from a migrant aid association.
Although she was “a little worried” at the start, the English degree holder now aims to work at Madrid’s airport.
A land of emigrants for centuries, Spain is a key entry point into the European Union for tens of thousands of undocumented asylum seekers and migrants, alongside Italy and Greece.
Many come via a long and perilous Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands, although numbers dropped last year after peaking in 2024.
Since April, streams of men, women and children have queued in the streets to obtain documents and attend appointments for their regularisation, in addition to online applicants.
Although fears arose of a saturation of the services handling the scheme, Mohamed, a Moroccan who lives in the northern region of Cantabria, felt the administrative journey was “relatively easy”.
The 23-year-old jobseeker, who declined to give his surname, has been in Spain irregularly for about four years and hopes “to be able to work legally, to pay contributions”.
Gaining legal status will also spare him from unscrupulous employers who “take advantage” of irregular migrants “by paying low salaries, without any rights or… don’t pay at all,” he told AFP.
Sanchez, who has presided over one of the world’s fastest-growing developed economies in the last few years, has touted the benefits of immigration for sectors such as construction that need to boost their workforce.
Spanish business leaders have welcomed the regularisation drive but the conservative and far-right opposition are furious about a policy they claim will encourage more irregular immigration.
While accepting “tensions” and “challenges” linked to immigration and integration, Sanchez on Tuesday accused the right of “fuelling fear (and) stirring up xenophobic discourse that does not solve any problem”.
Source: AFP