By John Egbokhan in Dubai
Ivory Coast beat African counterparts Morocco 2-1 in a FIFA Under-17 World Cup Round of 16 tie played at the Fujairah Stadium in United Arab Emirates on Tuesday afternoon.

Goals from Franck Kessie and Junior Ahissan either side of the break booked Ivory Coast’s place in the final eight of the competition. Younes Bnou Marzouk found the back of the net for the North African outfit.

Baby Elephants

Morocco went into the tie as favourites having topped their group, Ivory Coast on the other hand ended third in group B behind Italy and Uruguay.

Despite the underdog tag, it was the Baby Elephants who got off to the brighter start.

They had a glorious opportunity to open the scoring in the fourth minute of the encounter following a foul from Mohamed Saoud on Meite Yakou inside the area.

Ivory Coast captain Kessie duly stepped up and drilled the ball past a helpless Oussayd Belkouch to give the Elephants the lead.

Ivory Coast continued to dominate, and had opportunities to double their lead through Yakou who was proving to be a real menace down the left flank.

The Baby Cubs were struggling to find their rhythm and ultimately produce the football that was on display in the group stages.

Despite having a couple chances of doubling their lead before the break, the Elephants came up short, Ivory Coast 1-0 Morocco at half-time.

Morocco levelled matters on the hour mark through Younes Bnou Marzouk. The Juventus youngster picked up the ball outside the area before guiding his effort into the back of the net via the post, the goal was the midfielder’s third of the campaign.

Ahissan restored Ivory Coast’s lead in the 75th minute of the encounter, The Ivoire Academie midfielder pounced on a mistake by the Moroccan defence before firing past Belkouch.

Morocco piled forward in search of the winner, but the Baby Elephants defence held firm to continue their run in the youth tournament.