Arab world erupts as Morocco beats Spain on penalties to reach quarter-finals

Doha: There are no vuvuzelas at this World Cup, mercifully. But this was the closest Qatar has come to replicating the cacophony that characterised the 2010 tournament in South Africa, except this time it was good fun: a two-hour eardrum-piercing extravaganza, a one-way ticket to severe tinnitus, followed by an explosion of utter ecstasy across the Arab world.

In a tournament characterised by surprises and shocks, Morocco have delivered one of the biggest, keeping local hopes alive by upsetting Spain in a penalty shootout. They won it 3-0 to advance to the quarter-finals for the first time in their history, scaling heights never before reached by a team from this part of the world.

Achraf Hakimi of Morocco scores the team’s fourth and winning penalty.Credit: Getty

Neither side could find the back of the net through 120 minutes of football; Spain completely dominated possession but could not get past the Moroccan defence, partly because of their stoic commitment, but mostly due to a dire lack of invention and creativity in attack from La Roja, who had scored in their previous 24 matches, dating back to June 2021.

Moroccan supporters made up almost the entirety of the 44,667-strong crowd, and whistled relentlessly whenever Spain had the ball, which was a lot: they finished with 926 completed passes to 216, but none were telling, and in a tactical sense, this match showed how meaningless and dull possession football can be without any cutting edge in the final third, or game-breaking stars who can make things happen when nothing else is.

Spain huffed, puffed and eventually ran out of ideas, long before the regulation 90 minutes had elapsed, let alone the bonus 30 minutes. By the time the shootout arrived, they had lost all psychological momentum, and it told with the first two spot kicks: Pablo Sarabia hit the post, having also rattled the woodwork with one of the final actions of extra time, before Carlos Soler’s attempt was comfortably saved by Bono.

Then their captain, Sergio Busquets, the last remaining survivor from the team that won the World Cup in 2010, failed too, in possibly his last ever contribution to his national team.

Yassine Bounou of Morocco is tossed into the air after the team’s victory.Credit: Getty

That left it to Achraf Hakimi, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder who was born and bred in Madrid to Moroccan parents, to deliver the final, killer blow with a Panenka. Cue bedlam not just across the Middle East and north Africa, who had already united behind them, but by all neutrals looking for an underdog to support - they are the last remaining team not from Europe or South America, the two continents to have dominated the World Cup for almost a century.

This was Spain’s fourth failure in five shootouts at the World Cup; they now have the worst record of any nation. But this night was less about their loss and more about Morocco’s triumph, and what it meant for this tournament, this region.

They are the first African team to reach the quarter-finals since Ghana in 2010, with only Senegal (2002) and Cameroon (1990) having done so previously.

The Atlas Lions have still not conceded a goal via the opposition’s boot at this World Cup, with the only one they have let through an own goal from Naif Aguerd against Canada in a 2-1 win.

Spain’s Alvaro Morata (right) fights for the ball with Morocco’s Jawad El Yamiq.Credit: AP

At the Education City Stadium, they took Spain to football school. Morocco were happy to let them have the ball because they knew they would not hurt them with it - indeed, the better chances fell to them when they surged with manic intent on the counter-attack, with Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech their most dangerous outlet.

Morocco’s fans generated by far the most hostile, emotion-charged atmosphere seen in Doha thus far - to be expected, given the complicated shared history of these two nations, who are separated only by the 13-kilometre-wide Strait of Gibraltar. There were also thousands without tickets rattling the gates outside, who had to be contained by rows of riot police on foot, with dogs, and on horseback.

The whistles were deafening whenever Spain were ambling about in possession, but when it turned over, the noise turned into a deeper, guttural roar urging them to press forward, which got louder the further up the pitch they advanced.

This match was as difficult on the eyes as it was on the ears: it took Spain 55 minutes to get a shot on target, but at no stage afterwards did they truly have the Moroccans sweating.

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