RESULTS:
Morocco 0 (3) Spain 0 (0)
Portugal 6 Switzerland 1
Defender Achraf Hakimi and goalkeeper Yassine Bono were the heroes as Morocco knocked Spain out of the FIFA World Cup on Tuesday (December 6) to reach the quarterfinals after a post-match 3-0 victory. The game ended 0-0 after 120 minutes.
Morocco will face Portugal, who hammered Switzerland 6-1, in the quarterfinals.
Hakimi, ironically born in the Spanish capital, Madrid, converted the winning penalty kick for Morocco while Bono saved two kicks from Spain skipper Sergio Busquets and Carlos Soler.
Morocco are now the only African country (four of the continent of five representative; Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon and Tunisia are out) remaining in this ongoing World Cup tournament in Qatar.
To reach the round-of-16, the Moroccans topped Group F, which had Belgium, Croatia and Canada. Morocco drew (0-0) with Croatia, stunned Belgium 2-0 and beat Canada 2-1 to win the Group with seven points.
Morocco face Portugal in the quarterfinal tie on Saturday, December 10. Portugal thrashed Switzerland 6-1 in final round-of-16 game played on Tuesday night.
Portugal youngster Goncalo Ramos, who started ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, scored a hat-trick to disprove his doubters.