Morocco Beats Netherlands on Penalties at World Cup: Favorites List Reshuffled as Round of 16 Takes Shape

Morocco advanced to the World Cup Round of 16 by defeating the Netherlands in a penalty shootout in Monterrey Monday, delivering another thundering upset on a night that shook the tournament’s power structure to its core. On the same evening, Paraguay eliminated Germany in another shootout, and the combination of two heavyweight European exits in one night sent futures markets spinning.

Abdelhamid Saibari scored for Morocco in the match, while Dutch star Cody Gakpo, playing under enormous emotional weight after a deeply personal tragedy earlier in the week, could not ultimately prevent the defeat. The Netherlands leave the tournament without the title they have never managed to win, and their exit ends one of the more emotionally charged runs in tournament history.

Morocco Continues to Defy Expectations

Morocco had already established themselves as a genuine World Cup force at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, where they reached the semifinals — the first African nation ever to do so. Their run in 2026 is picking up where that performance left off. The Atlas Lions have an organized, hard-working team that is exceptionally difficult to break down, and their shootout composure against the Netherlands showed a maturity that separates elite tournament teams from the rest.

The Netherlands, by contrast, look back on the tournament with a painful mix of what-ifs. Their squad had the quality to go deep in this competition, and the narrow nature of the penalty defeat will not soften the blow for Dutch football fans heading into the summer.

Futures Odds: France and Argentina Now Clear Favorites

With Germany and the Netherlands both eliminated in one night, the World Cup futures market has consolidated around France and Argentina as the two clearest frontrunners. Spain, England, Portugal, and Brazil are all still very much in contention, but the two giants of European football have cleared paths they would have had to navigate through Germany and the Netherlands in a more predictable bracket.

For bettors following the tournament at DraftKings and FanDuel, the updated futures odds after this night of results represent one of the more significant single-session shifts of the tournament. Morocco, for their part, are no longer a surprise — they are a legitimate contender that nobody in the Round of 16 will want to face.

The World Cup knockout stage continues this week. DFS players building lineups for upcoming matches on PrizePicks and similar platforms will want to monitor injury reports and squad selections as the bracket firms up over the next 24 to 48 hours.