Morocco beats Spain 3-0 on penalties as Morocco becomes first Arab country to advance to World Cup quarter-finals
Post Date – 11:46 PM, Tuesday – 12/06/22
Morocco coach Walid Regraj and his players celebrate after defeating Spain on penalties in their 2022 FIFA World Cup match at the Education City Stadium in Al Rein on Tuesday. (Ani Photo)
Allen: Morocco beat Spain 3-0 on penalties on Tuesday to become the first Arab country to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
Pablo Sarabia, Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets missed Spain’s penalties, with Sarabia hitting the post and Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou stopping the other two.
The teams were tied 0-0 in the regular season and overtime.
Morocco has been the biggest surprise of the tournament and will next face either Portugal or Switzerland.
Morocco is also the only team from outside Europe or South America to reach the quarter-finals. The team reached the last 16 in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
Spain were knocked out by hosts Russia on penalties at the 2018 World Cup and Italy in the semi-finals of last year’s European Cup.
It was Spain’s fifth consecutive knockout match in a major tournament that went into overtime. The team played 120 minutes against Russia in all three knockout matches at Euro 2020.
The Moroccan fans far outnumber the Spaniards at the Education City stadium and are much louder.
Morocco and Spain are close neighbors with complicated geopolitical relations.
