FIFA World Cup 2022: Morocco's stats, records and biggest success stories in the tournament's history
Morocco have stunned Spain and will play the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time in its history. Let's take a look at their biggest success stories in World Cup history.
Football
Morocco will play the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time in its history.
The Atlas Lions shocked Spain in the round of 16 with a 3-0 win on penalties on Tuesday (6 December) hoping to continue their magic run with an historic achievement: Becoming the first African country to qualify for the semi-finals of the World Cup.
Thirty-six years ago, Morocco made history by becoming the first African country to qualify for the round of 16 at the World Cup 1986 in Mexico.
After their stunning win against 2010 world champion Spain, let's take a closer look at Morocco's biggest success stories at the FIFA World Cup.
FIFA World Cup 1986: Morocco - Portugal 3-1
The first time Morocco qualified for the FIFA World Cup was in 1970. Their appearance ended with two defeats against West Germany (2-1) and Peru (3-0) and a draw versus Bulgaria (1-1).
Sixteen years laters, the Atlas Lions were back in Mexico for another World Cup journey.
They stayed undefeated during the group phase and won Group F.
After two draws without a goal against Poland (0-0) and England (0-0), legendary goalkeeper Badou Zaki saw his squad win against Portugal 3-1. Abderrazak Khairi scored twice during the first half and Merry Krimau added a third goal 30 minutes before the final whistle.
Morocco was through to the round of 16 - a huge milestone for football world: No African team had done it before. The Moroccans were eliminated by West Germany 1-0, but history had already been written.
FIFA World Cup 1998: Scotland - Morocco 3-0
Morocco almost made the round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup 1998. After a draw against Norway (2-2) and a 3-0 defeat against defending champions Brazil, Morocco beat Scotland 3-0.
Salaheddine Bassir scored twice, and Abdeljalil Hadda found the net against a Scottish team that played 40 minutes with only ten men as Craig Burley got a red card shortly after halftime.
This victory should have been enough to see them through to the knockout round but it wasn't meant to be. As Brazil shockingly lost at the same time 2-1 against Norway, Morocco's dream of the last 16 ended.
They finished in third place in Group B.
FIFA World Cup 2022: Morocco - Belgium 2-0
Morocco started the FIFA World Cup 2022 with two games against teams that had reached the semis in 2018.
Walid Regragui's side started with a goalless draw against 2018 runner-up Croatia. They kept another clean sheet in their surprising 2-0 win over Belgium in their second outing at the Al-Thumama Stadium filled with Moroccan fans.
Achraf Hakimi and his squad faced superstars like Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard, but they remained unfazed.
Sofyan Amrabat was all over the midfield to keep the Moroccans in the game.
The first half ended with a goal disallowed by the VAR because of an offside position of Romain Saïss but Morocco realised there were three points to be won.
They finally found a way past goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, courtesy of Saïss and Zakaria Aboukhlal.
It was one of the biggest wins in the history of Moroccan football, against one of the best teams in the world, and it helped the North Africans secure first place in Group F.
Four days later, they defeated Canada 2-1. Hakim Ziyech and Youssef En Nesyri scored against the Canadians, who were already eliminated.
Morocco ended the group phase of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in first place but that meant a matchup with Spain in the last 16.....
FIFA World Cup 2022: Morocco - Spain 3-0 on penalties
Thirty-six years after the FIFA World Cup 1986, Morocco were back in the round of 16... and the Atlas Lions were not afraid of Spain.
Walid Regragui had a plan and his players followed it to perfection. Thanks to their defensive prowess, they managed to hold off Spain's offense over 90 minutes and 30 minutes extra time.
After 120 goalless minutes, a penalty shootout had to decide the winner.
Morocco's goalkeeper Yassine Bounou became a national hero by stopping Carlos Soler's and Sergio Busquets' penalty attempts. Pablo Sarabia's penalty hit the post.
On the Moroccan side, Abdelhamid Sabiri, Hakim Ziyech and Achraf Hakimi scored to help Morocco progress to the quarter-finals.
It's the first time that Morocco has qualified for the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup. And now, 36 years after becoming the first African team in the round of 16, Morocco can write another page of history: In the 92 years history of the FIFA World Cup, never has an African country reached the semi-finals.