It came after Spain dominated the game for 120 minutes, accumulating 1019 passes without scoring. The Moroccans held at the back and their overall ball possession of 23% revealed how much of the game they had control of while preventing the marauding Spanish side from scoring.
After losing three of their previous four penalty shootouts, Luis Enrique’s team once again lost, thanks to saves from goalie Yassine Bounou on Pablo Sarabia, Carlos Soler, and Sergio Busquets.
Achraf Hakimi, a Madrid native, had the chance to win it for the African representatives, and he did so with a glorious Panenka to advance Morocco to the round of eight for the first time.
While the practice sessions Spain had to see them through a shootout proved to be counterproductive as they exit Qatar, Morocco will wait for the result of the other round of 16 match between Portugal and Switzerland to know their next opponents for the quarter-finals.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
