Morocco’s U-20 national team reached the semifinals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup for the first time in 20 years, after defeating the United States 3-1 in Rancagua, Chile.

The US team dominated the first half hour of play, but Morocco capitalized on a quick counterattack to open the scoring when Saad Al-Haddad advanced on the left flank and crossed to Othman Maama, whose shot was saved by the US goalkeeper, but Maama cleverly passed the ball to Fouad Al-Zahwani who scored (31′).

After being named man of the match, Maama said, “I am happy with the team and what we are doing. I won’t talk about the man of the match award because the credit goes to my teammates. We performed as a true team. The team’s mentality and the love from the people made our performance great tonight.”

In the sixth minute of added time in the first half, the US earned a penalty after Ali Maamar fouled Nolan Norris inside the box, and Cole Campbell successfully converted it.

Morocco regained the lead when Al-Zahwani sent a long throw-in to Al-Zubairi, causing confusion in the US defense; the ball deflected off Joshua Winder into his own net (67′).

Jassim Yassin sealed the victory for Morocco three minutes before the end, taking advantage of major defensive errors by the US team.

Morocco will face France, who defeated Norway 2-1, in the semifinals on Wednesday.

Morocco’s coach Mohamed Wahbi said, “We knew very well that we could hurt any team because we have great attacking players. We also have a strong defense, and our attackers fulfill their defensive duties and support the defense as well.”

He added, “They are writing their own history. This generation deserves it, and I enjoy working with them.”

Morocco’s best previous result was fourth place in the 2005 edition in the Netherlands.

In the other semifinal, Argentina, who beat Mexico 2-0, will play Colombia, who defeated Spain 3-2.

Argentina holds the record for the most U-20 World Cup titles with six, ahead of Brazil with five.