It was a battle between West Ham United’s past and present as Issa Diop’s Morocco emerged victorious over Crysencio Summerville’s Netherlands in one of the most dramatic games yet at the 2026 World Cup.
And, in the end, both would play a major role in a thrilling encounter.
After scoring twice in the group stages, Crysencio Summerville added a second World Cup assist to his tally when creating Cody Gakpo’s opener.
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An explosive run in behind the Moroccan backline after a Wout Weghorst flick-on, West Ham United’s number seven somehow managed to turn the ball into Gakpo’s path while prone on the Monterrey turf.
As the Netherlands played out a 2-2 draw with Japan earlier in the tournament, Summerville joined a very exclusive club. Only the sixth player to score a World Cup goal while contracted to West Ham.
But it was a player whose Hammers contract has long since been torn up who took the game beyond the 90 minute mark in Mexico.
Issa Diop ruins another World Cup moment for West Ham United’s Crysencio Summerville
Like Summerville, Issa Diop picked up his first cap earlier in 2026 after declaring for Morocco. His first goal, well, you would struggle to have scripted it any better. An inviting cross from Chemsdine Talbi, and a crashing header with 91 minutes on the clock.
“Thank you to all the fans who supported us today,” Diop grinned in a victorious social media message, the Man of the Match award in hand. “It is just the beginning. We are going to keep fighting.
“It’s just the beginning.”
Maybe so, Morocco determined to go one step further than their semi-final exit in 2022. But if it is indeed ‘just the beginning’ for the Atlas Lions, it would also be early exit for a Dutch side who looked less like dark horses in the end and more like tired old donkeys.
Still, while the Oranje inquest begins, at least Summerville played his part.
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He was, not for the first time in this tournament, the most consistent attacking threat available to Ronald Koeman. As his former coach with the Dutch youth team said, Summerville’s ‘incredible rise’ has been a joy to watch.
If anyone did not deserve to slip up in a penalty shoot-out in which Morocco emerged victorious – Summerville’s spot-kick was saved by the colossal Yassine Bounou – it was him.
“Crysencio Summerville had not played a single match for the Netherlands prior to the World Cup preparations. By now, it seems as if the winger has been active in the Dutch national team for years,” write Voetbal Primeur.
“Thanks to his excellent performances against Japan and Sweden, Summerville has now all but secured a place in the starting lineup.”
As for Issa Diop, the defender West Ham sold to Fulham back in 2022 for £15 million, Morocco’s decision to bring him into the fold only months before the tournament began, and handing him his first cap at the age of 29, is proving to be an exceptionally good decision.
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