Morocco has become the fourth (4th), African team, to book a place in the last eight after seeing off Spain's challenge. Heroic performances from Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, defender Achraf Hakimi and Sofyan Amrabat were enough to create the upset.
The game ended in a stalemate both in regular time and in extra time before going into penalty kicks where Yassine Bounou saved two of Spain's three penalties before Achraf Hakimi panenka's kick sealed a 3-0 victory for the atlas lions. a
Before tonight's triumph, Morocco has featured in five (5) editions of the world cup. 1970 was the first time, the team didn't make it out of the group stage after failing to win a single game. In Mexico '86, the team from North Africa made an impression and won their first-ever world cup game where they defeated Portugal 3-1 before progressing to the last 16 where West Germany defeated the 1-0.
The one-time African champion, with victory over Spain, has now joined the likes of Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010) to book a place in the Quarterfinals.
The Moroccans will be hoping to better that feature when they play the winner of Portugal and Switzerland on Saturday.
