Morocco became the fourth African nation to advance to the quarter-finals of a FIFA World Cup after defeating Spain on penalties.
2022 FIFA World Cup
Result: Morocco 0-0 Spain (Morocco won 3-0 on penalties)
Date: 06 December 2022
Venue: Education City Stadium
The Moroccans made just one change from the win over Canada, as Selim Amallah replaced Abdelhamid Sabiri in midfield, while Spain recalled Aymeric Laporte, Marcos Llorent and Jordi Alba.
Morocco had the game's first chance after six minutes when Hakim Ziyech burst down the right and before firing wide of Unai Simon's goal as they looked to get off to a fast start.
It took a while for La Roja to get going, with their first opening arriving on 26 minutes when Jordi Alba played a ball over the top for Marco Asensio, who volleyed into the side-netting.
Morocco were presented with a chance to pull ahead just before the halftime break when Sofiane Boufal lost his marker and sent a cross into the box that found Nayef Aguerd, who nodded over the target from close-range.
Spain had only registered one shot for the entire first half against the North African giants and things did not look like changing in the opening 10 minutes of the second half.
Coach Luis Enrique opted to rectify that by introducing top scorer Alvaro Morata and Carlos Soler for Marco Asensio and Gavi, while Morocco withdrew Boufal for Abdessamad Ezzalzouli just after the hour mark.
Despite the changes from both nations, clear-cut chances were hard to come by at both ends as Spain continued to enjoy most of the possession without troubling Moroccan shot-stopper Yassine Bounou.
That proved to be the trend for the remainder of the second half, which forced the sides to compete for another 30 minutes of extra-time.
Morocco were present with a big opportunity to break the deadlock near the end of the first half of extra-time, when Walid Cheddira was slipped through on goal by Azzedine Ounahi but the substitute failed to beat Simon in a one-on-one situation.
Neither nation were able to find the back of the net in the second half of extra-time despite the openings for Cheddira and Alvaro Morata in the closing stages.
The game went to a penalty shoot-out, where the Atlas Lions held their nerve to triumph 3-0 advance to the quarter-finals, with Spain missing all their spot-kicks.
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