Morocco defeated Spain in round of 16: FIFA World Cup 2022

Another upset of this FIFA World Cup 2022. Morocco defeated Spain by penalties. And with this defeat of 3-0 in a penalty shootout in the round of last-16, Spain is out of the World Cup. The Qatar tournament is behaving like amazing. We love football for this.

Enrique, who shockingly went with Marcos at right-back, saw his side have 70% possession in the first half yet make not many possibilities in a generally dull 45 minutes.

They had a good three minutes with Gavi hitting the crossbar after making a mistake at the back. The offside flag was raised and hopes went down. Marcos was hitting the side-netting. But overall Morocco defended well for the most part.

Morocco rarely advanced but Nayef Aguerd’s close-range shot over the bar from an unmarked position should have broken the deadlock.

Ezzalzouli came on for the Atlas, Alvaro and Carlos came on for the second half, which featured much of the same disorganized game. But even all of this didn’t lead to a goal. With all of the above Morata missed a free kick from Soler in the final minute.

In additional time, Cheddira scorned two opportunities to score. After the striker took too long to shoot, Laporte came back to steal the ball and in a short while, he shot straight at Simon.

Enrique’s team was mostly unuseful in the final third, but Pablo Sarabia’s volley from the angle missed the post in the very last seconds.

Sarabia hit the net once more in the shootout, but Bounou saved both weak attempts, Sergio and Soler.

Hakimi converted his penalty to advance Morocco to the quarterfinals and see Spain suffer yet more humiliation in the shootout.

Talking Point

Spain doesn’t take anything away from the recent tournaments.

At the Euros last year, this team scored seven goals to defeat Costa Rica and five to defeat Slovakia and Croatia. However, despite this, they chose to attempt to kill Morocco, displaying a lack of directness in both set pieces and open play. In addition, the decision to start Asensio as a center forward with Morata, who was in peak form, on the bench was a mistake. The Spanish have been eliminated on penalties three times in a row.

Player of the Match

Sofyan Amrabat: He won the midfield fight with his work rate, defensive capacities and determination. He ran continuously for 120 minutes and remained an obstacle for the attacking players.

Playing Squad

Morocco: Bounou, Hakimi, Mazraoui, Aguerd, Saiss, Amrabat, Amallah, Ounahi, Ziyech, Boufal, En-Nesyri. Subs: Abde, Cheddira, Sabiri, Attah-Allah, Yamiq, Benoun.

Spain: Simon, Llorente, Laporte, Rodri, Jordi Alba, Busquets, Gavi, Pedri, Torres, Olmo, Asensio. Subs: Morata, Soler, N Williams, Fati, Balde, Sarabia.