Morocco beat Spain 3-0 in a penalty shootout to advance to the Quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup, today at the Education City stadium in Al-Rayyan, Qatar.
After an exhilarating 120 minutes of soccer, the game was still scoreless, which meant it was going into a penalty shootout. Spain and Morocco had multiple goalscoring chances, but good defense and sloppy mistakes toward the end of the game resulted in a 0-0 match.
Morocco would start the penalty shootout with a goal from Abdelhamid Sabiri, followed by a miss from Spanish striker Pablo Sarabia, who hit the post.
Moroccan star Hakim Ziyech would blast his shot down the middle for Morocco and Spanish midfielder Carlos Soler would have his saved to give Morocco a 2-0 advantage.
Spain would luck out as Moroccan player Badr Benoun missed his penalty, but so did Spain’s captain Sergio Busquets. This left the score at 2-0, meaning that if Morocco made their last penalty they would win the game.
Morocco’s main man Achraf Hakimi would take their last penalty in a cheeky fashion, chipping the ball down the middle and faking out Unai Simón.
Although Spain was the favorite in the match, Morocco played well and showed that they deserved to win just as much.
As a result, Morocco will face the winner of the Portugal vs Switzerland match, which will take place later today at 2 pm EST.
Photo: Achraf Hakimi – Shutterstock – user: Marco Iacobucci Epp – ID: 1116897581
