Al Rayyan, Qatar: The Morocco national football team defeated the team of Spain in the 1/8 final match of the World Cup in Qatar in a penalty shootout. The meeting was held on Tuesday at the stadium “Education City” in Ryan.
The main time of the match and two additional halves ended with the score 0:0. In the penalty shootout, the Moroccans won with a score of 3:0. Moroccan national team goalkeeper Yassine Bounou became the second goalkeeper in the history of the tournament not to concede a single goal in a penalty shootout. At the 2006 World Cup, Ukrainian Oleksandr Shovkovskiy also did not concede a single goal in the post-match series in the 1/8 final game against the Switzerland team.
Spanish captain midfielder Sergio Busquets played his 17th match at the World Championships, repeating the record of defender Sergio Ramos and goalkeeper Iker Casillas. As part of the national team, Busquets became the world champion (2010) and Europe (2012).
The Moroccan national team for the first time in its history reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup. The Moroccans also became the fourth African team to reach this stage of the tournament; earlier, the teams of Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010) reached the 1/4 finals.
The Spanish national team failed to pass the 1/8 finals of the World Cup for the third time in a row: in 2014, the Spaniards completed their performance at the group stage, and in 2018 they lost to the Russian team in the 1/8 finals. In the quarterfinals of the tournament in Qatar, the Moroccans will play with the winner of the match Portugal – Switzerland, which will be held on Tuesday (14:00 Eastern Time).
The World Cup games in Qatar are held in five cities at eight stadiums. The record holder for victories is the team of Brazil (five times). The final match of the world championship in Qatar will be held on December 18 at the National Stadium in Lusail.
