Atlanta. Substitutes Soufiane Rahimi and Gessime Yassine scored late goals as Morocco rallied to defeat Haiti 4-2 on Wednesday, ending the Caribbean nation's hopes of earning its first World Cup point.

Morocco, the first African nation to reach the World Cup semifinals in Qatar four years ago, twice came from behind against a Haitian side making only its second appearance at the tournament and its first in 52 years.

Rahimi's deflected strike in the 78th minute put Morocco ahead for the first time, and Yassine sealed the victory with an 89th-minute goal.

The win secured second place in Group C for Morocco behind Brazil, which defeated Scotland 3-0 in the other group match. Morocco will face the runner-up from Group F — the Netherlands, Japan or Sweden — in the round of 32 in Monterrey.

"At times we lacked humility and paid the price for it," Morocco midfielder Bilal El Khannouss said. "We weren't fully committed in the duels, we gave them confidence and allowed them to grow into the game and score twice. At halftime, the coach told us we needed to be more aggressive, win the second balls and bring greater intensity to our attacking play."

Fresh from winning the Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco entered the tournament with ambitions of another deep run after its historic semifinal appearance in 2022. But Haiti provided a major scare.

The Caribbean side stunned Morocco in the 10th minute with a goal more than five decades in the making. Lenny Joseph's back-heeled flick at the near post went in off goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, resulting in an own goal that gave Haiti its first World Cup goal since Emmanuel Sanon scored in 1974.

Morocco pressed for an equalizer and finally found one in the 39th minute. Haiti goalkeeper Johny Placide managed to get a hand to Bilal El Khannouss' deflected cross, but Achraf Hakimi bundled the ball over the line.

Despite Morocco's growing pressure, Haiti regained the lead four minutes later when Wilson Isidor unleashed a shot from outside the penalty area that flew into the top corner.

There was still time for another twist before halftime. Ismael Saibari swept home Hakimi's cross in stoppage time to make it 2-2 at the break. The goal was Saibari's third of the tournament.

Morocco continued to push after halftime and eventually broke Haiti's resistance when Rahimi's effort took a deflection on its way into the net. Yassine added a fourth goal late to extinguish any hopes of a Haitian comeback.

"I am disappointed for the Haitian fans," Haiti coach Sébastien Migné said. "Disappointed, but also, I want to say we managed to show that we were worthy of this qualification. We were in the right place. Now we need to make some improvements and not wait for another 52 years."

Despite the defeat, Haiti earned admiration for its spirited performances during its long-awaited return to the World Cup stage, while Morocco advanced with renewed hopes of another deep tournament run.