World Cup 2022: Morocco beats Spain on penalties and qualifies for the quarter-finals

Morocco had qualified for the round of sixteen after topping Group F with seven points from a victory over Belgium and Canada and a draw with Croatia.

As for Spain, it qualified for the round of sixteen as second in Group E, with four points, from a victory over Costa Rica, a draw with Germany, and a loss from Japan, which snatched the top of the group.

Morocco has previously played three matches against Spain. In 1961, the two teams faced each other in the World Cup qualifiers in Chile. Spain won the first match with a goal without a response, and in the second match, with three goals to two, to qualify the Spanish Matador to the World Cup against the Atlas Lions.

The last confrontation between the two teams was in the group stage in the World Cup Russia 2018, and ended in a draw with two goals for each team, so that Spain topped the group and qualified for the round of sixteen, while Morocco bottomed the group with one point.

Morocco became the only Arab and African team remaining in the 2022 World Cup, after the exit of Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Qatar, and African countries, such as Ghana and Cameroon, exited the group stage, and Senegal exited the round of sixteen.

Portugal qualified for the round of sixteen after topping Group H with six points from winning over Ghana and Uruguay and losing from South Korea.

As for Switzerland, it qualified as a runner-up in Group G, with six points, after beating Cameroon and Serbia and losing to Brazil.

Portugal and Switzerland met in 25 matches, Switzerland won 11 matches, compared to nine victories for Portugal, and five draws between the two teams.

Spain’s coach, Luis Enrique, had expressed before the match his hope that training his players on 1,000 penalty kicks would bear fruit against Morocco, in the event that the match reached a penalty shootout, but his hope did not materialize.

Enrique indicated that he assigned his players this task during the past year in anticipation of resorting to penalty kicks in the knockout stages of the World Cup in Qatar.

Spain had bid farewell to the European Nations Cup last year after losing on penalties to Italy in the semi-finals.

“I think they have done their duty,” Enrique said of his players.

He added, “More than a year ago, in one of the Spain national team’s camps, I told them that they had to come here after training for at least 1,000 penalty kicks.”

He continued, “If you wait until you get here to practice penalties, it will not be enough.”

On the other hand, the right-back of the Moroccan national team, Ashraf Hakimi, said in a statement before the match that he believes that his country is capable of “achieving another surprise” against Spain.

The 24-year-old, who was born in the Spanish capital, Madrid, could have played for Spain.

“It is exceptional to play for your country, especially now that we are making history,” said Hakimi, who already played for Spain’s youth team before representing Morocco afterwards.

Hakimi, whose national team was ahead of Spain in the group stage of the World Cup four years ago, said with two goals to one until stoppage time when Iago Aspas scored the equalizer and denied the Moroccan national team a victory: “Four years of experience since then means I came here with a more mature mindset.”

He added, “Spain is one of the five best teams in the world, and they always come to the World Cup to compete for the title, but our coach also taught us to have a winning mentality. We do not look at the team we face, and we will play our way and try to win them.”

He continued, “We qualified after finishing first in the group and I think we deserve some respect. I think Spain knows that, and they should feel a little bit afraid of us. Why don’t we surprise again?”