Morocco knocks Spain out of the FIFA World Cup on penalties

Morocco have sensationally knocked Spain out of the World Cup with the African nation going through on penalties following a goalless 120 minutes of football with their fans taking over London. 

The Spanish team hit the post with their first penalty and had two saved during the shootout which saw Africa’s sole remaining team progress to a semi final against the winners of tonight’s match between Portugal and Switzerland, which has seen Cristiano Ronaldo dropped to the bench.

Pablo Sarabia, Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets missed their penalties for Spain, with Sarabia hitting the post and Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou stopping the other two.

Tonight’s result has been the biggest surprise of the tournament as Spain were widely expected to get through to Saturday’s Quarter Final. 

Morocco is the only team from outside Europe or South America to make it to the last eight. It is the only Arab – and African – nation left in the tournament.

Their jubilant fans have celebrated across Europe.  

During the game, Spain dominated possession but Morocco’s defence held firm, restricting the Iberian giants to a handful of chances. 

Jubilant Moroccan players lifted out their head coach Walid Regragiu following the biggest shock so far of the tournament. 

Moroccan fan Boutaina Essadiki told Al Jazeera: ‘To go past the first round was the first football joy for the young generation and it’s beautiful because what’s happening on the pitch is bringing together children of the Moroccan diaspora, born all over Europe.

‘The win [over Spain] will be a victory for all Arab teams.

‘I’m so proud to be a Moroccan right now. And given the situation, even if I wasn’t a Moroccan I’d like to be one to join in and celebrate.’

Moroccan midfielder Bilal El Khannouss said his team had made their country by taking them into the quarter-finals for the first time, with their first-ever knockout stage victory: ‘We are very happy. We have written history all together,which is the most important thing. We have made our country, our fans and our families proud.

‘We were always confident we could beat Spain. We have good players, a good team, strong mentality and when we fight for each other, we are a very hard team to beat. You can see that over these last games, and that is the most important thing.

‘Bounou is a very good goalkeeper, he’s a real talent. He’s like that all the time and we congratulate him for what he did today.’

Members of the Moroccan diaspora celebrated their historic victory across Europe. 

Moments after their dramatic victory, fans took to the streets of Brussels, The Hague and Barcelona, lighting flares and singing songs. 

Morocco have progressed into this weekend’s Quarter Finals where they join The Netherlands, Argentina, Croatia, Brazil, England, France and the winners of Switzerland and Portugal playing for a place in the final four. 

Morocco play the winners of tonight’s game at 3pm on Saturday, where the victors are destined to play either England or France for a place in the final.  

Morocco became only the fourth African nation to reach the last eight of the tournament, 12 years after Ghana did so in South Africa.

Moroccan coach Walid Ragragui said: ‘We fought and made the Moroccan people happy, we made history and Morocco deserve it, Moroccan people made us united on the pitch.’

Morocco defender Jawad Yamiq was proud of his team’s performance.

‘We honoured the Arab and African football, coach Regragui gave us the confidence that we needed in this game, a big boost in morale,’ he said.

‘We knew that Spain depend on their ball possession and we played with that in mind. They didn’t impose any danger.’

It was the fourth time Spain have been knocked out of the World Cup on penalties and the second in a row.

‘We completely dominated the match, it’s a shame it went that way,’ Spain manager Luis Enrique told TVE.

‘It’s the most difficult thing, playing against a team like Morocco who are hard workers.

‘The penalties cost us, but I am very proud of the team and all the players. I’m very sorry about the result but I congratulate Morocco.’

Outside the stadium, riot police and dogs were deployed as fans tried to enter the stadium. 

Security forces could be seen dragging away at least three people as Morocco played Spain inside the nearby Education City Stadium.

Heated discussions were taking place between some Morocco fans and security forces over whether or not they could head through the perimeter gate and move towards the spectator entrances.

Some people were showing their phones and what appeared to be their passports, but were turned away.

At one stage, security forces inside the stadium perimeter – but outside the spectator entrances – marched forward to move people back.

Riot police were then asked to put on their helmets and moved to a new position while police dogs could also be seen.

One security official said of the people outside: ‘They are not moving away, they want to enter.’

It was unclear how many people outside the stadium had tickets and how many did not.

One fan was allowed by the security forces to head to the spectator entrance after 75 minutes had been played, while two other fans said they had ‘no ticket’ and others were asking for them.

A member of the security forces later removed someone for filming on their phone and asked a PA reporter to stop filming.

The atmosphere outside the stadium did calm down with groups of Moroccan supporters and others crowding around phones to watch the game after moving away from the perimeter gate.

Security forces handed water to some Moroccan supporters while a couple of other officers could be seen watching the game by looking over the shoulders of fans.