Morocco last Africans standing as they stun Spain to reach the quarterfinals of the Qatar 2022 World Cup

* Spain’s Sarabia, Soler and Busquets missed their spot kicks as well as Moroccan Benoun

* While Sabiri, Ziyech and Hakimi scored for the Atlas Lions to send Moroccan fans into delirium of joy

* Morocco’s goalkeeper Yassine Bounou played a pivotal role by saving two penalties

Maravi Express

Of the five African representatives at the Qatar 2022 World Cup, Morocco has gone further by qualifying for the quarterfinals after beating Spain 3-0 through post match penalties.

Morocco’s goalkeeper Yassine Bounou played a pivotal role after a goal-less 120 minutes, saving penalties from Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets after Pablo Sarabia had struck the post in his first spot kick.

Abdelhamid Sabiri and Hakim Ziyech scored theirs but Badr Benoun was thwarted by Unai Simon, meaning Morocco had to wait a moment longer to confirm their victory, finally celebrating when Achraf Hakimi sent the Spain ‘keeper the wrong way.

It was a familiar story for Spain, who dominated possession but struggled to carve out many chances. In fact, they had only one effort in the first half, their lowest shot count in a World Cup match since 1966. It fell to Marco Asensio, who got in behind the defence but dragged his shot wide of the near post.

Morocco pressed Spain smartly and had three decent chances, the clearest being a free header for Nayef Aguerd which narrowly missed the target.

The match remained tense and tight until the final few minutes of normal time, in which Bounou tipped away a skidding free-kick from Dani Olmo and Abde Ezzalzouli almost caught out Simon in possession.

A similar script followed in extra time when Morocco had two more glorious chances, both falling to Walid Cheddira. First the substitute failed to get his shot away and was dispossessed by Aymeric Laporte, then he did manage to fire at goal but was thwarted by Simon’s right leg.

Spain have exited their last three major competitions on penalties, losing to Russia at the 2018 World Cup and to Italy at UEFA Euro 2020.

Morocco qualified for the Round of 16 in which they were paired in Group F alongside Belgium (2-0 win), Canada (2-1) and Croatia (0-0).

African champions Senegal were beaten 0-3 by England in the Round of 16, having qualified in Group A alongside hosts Qatar (3-1), Ecuador (2-1) and Netherlands (0-2).

Tunisia, Cameroon and Ghana never made it to the knockout stages in the groups — Tunisia in Group D with France (1-0), Australia (0-1) and Denmark (0-0); Cameroon in Group G with Brazil (1-0); Serbia (3-3) and Switzerland (0-1 while Ghana in Group H were against Portugal (2-3); Uruguay (0-2) and South Korea (3-2).

There were huge celebrations in the stands as Moroccans hugged and gave each other high-fives with some fans seen crying as their players thanked them for providing an exhilarating atmosphere — not only on the night, but throughout the tournament.

This is Morocco’s sixth World Cup — their first in 1970, when they only managed to pick up one point from three matches. They lost to both Peru and West Germany but managed to salvage a draw against Bulgaria.

Their second appearance was the most memorable of the lot — in 1986 when they managed to beat Portugal after drawing against Poland and England to get out of their group, only to fall narrowly short against West Germany in the Round of 16.

The 1994, 1998 and 2018 World Cups all ended in the same fate, with Morocco exiting at the group stage but at France 1998, they were particularly unlucky not to progress after beating Scotland 3-0 and drawing 2-2 with Norway.

They also gave a good account of themselves at Russia 2018, despite only picking up one point against Spain.

Scorer of the all-important penalty, Achraf Hakimi has played a pivotal role for Morocco over the past few years and his performances in the last Africa Cup of Nations and the 2022 World Cup qualifiers highlight the integral role that the Paris Saint-Germain star fulfils.

The player, who turned 24 on the eve of the tournament, has a lot of international experience to his name, including Russia 2018 and he is now relied upon to be the game-changer.—Additional reporting by CAFonline & @FIFA.com