Mohamed Ouahbi has told his Morocco side to have the belief that they can win the World Cup after confirming their spot in the knockout stages with a 4-2 win over Haiti.

The Atlas Lions twice fought back before half-time in Atlanta, with Achraf Hakimi and Ismael Saibari cancelling out a Yassine Bounou own goal and Wilson Isidor's strike.

Soufiane Rahimi and Gessime Yassine scored late on to earn the three points, with Morocco finishing second in Group C on goal difference behind Brazil.

Four years ago in Qatar, Morocco became the first African nation to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup.

Ouahbi does not want confidence to be mistaken for arrogance, but says his team must dream of being crowned champions next month.

"Morocco have entered a new stage. The players now believe in their ability, and opponents respect Morocco," he said.

"For that reason, our objective must be to win the World Cup. Winning the World Cup requires us to respect every team we face. I trust the work we are doing."

With their four goals against Haiti, the first time they have done so at world football's most prestigious tournament, Morocco overtook Nigeria to become the African nation with the most goals in World Cup history, reaching 26 goals compared to Nigeria's 23.

Moreover, after Hakimi, Rahimi and Yassine each scored their first World Cup goal, Morocco (19) have the most different goal scorers by any African team in the World Cup, again surpassing Nigeria (16).

Morocco now face either Netherlands, Japan, or Sweden in the last 32.

Ouahbi added: "Regardless of who we face, we have a strong squad, an excellent staff and great supporters. We have everything we need to believe in ourselves."

Haiti exit the tournament without a point on what was only their second World Cup appearance after 1974.

They have lost all six games that they have played at a World Cup, but head coach Sebastien Migne was proud of the fighting spirit they showed against Morocco.

"I'm disappointed from a result standpoint, I would have liked for us to score more and win, but that being said, I didn't feel as though the boys gave up. Even in challenging conditions after that third goal, I was worried we would collapse," he said.

"It has to do with the Haitians' culture. They just don't give up that easily. So they were a nice reflection of the culture of the country. They represented their country right.

"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.

"It's a ripe new chapter in the history of Haiti. We were very close to making history in this World Cup, and in case we couldn't win, we wanted to leave the World Cup with our heads high, and I think we did that."