The first World Cup held in an Arab nation has produced the Arab world’s first quarterfinalist. Know more:
Morocco became only the fourth African country to reach the quarterfinals at the biggest soccer tournament in the world by beating Spain 3-0 in a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw through extra time.
The World Cup in Qatar is the first to be played in the Arab world and only the second to be held in Asia. The tournament began with one of the biggest upsets in history when Saudi Arabia beat two-time champion Argentina on the third day of action. Achraf Hakimi, who was born in Madrid and previously played for Real Madrid, converted the deciding penalty in the shootout. Abdelhamid Sabiri and Hakim Ziyech, who returned to the national team after a dispute with the previous coach, also scored. in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
“Today I think it showed to the world every Moroccan is Moroccan with his passport,” Regragui said. “When he comes to the national team, you want to die, you want to fight. And that is what I want to show. And now, we have one example. The coach is born in France but nobody can have my heart but my country.”Morocco, which also reached the round of 16 at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, is also the only team from outside Europe or South America to make it to the last eight in Qatar.
“We knew that if we went to the penalty shootout, we had one of the best goalkeepers in the world and we could win it,” said Regragui, who took over as coach of Morocco in August and had little time to prepare the team ahead of the World Cup. Spain was eliminated by host Russia in a penalty shootout at the 2018 World Cup, and by Italy in the semifinals of last year’s European Championship. The team hasn’t advanced past the last 16 at the World Cup since it won the tournament in 2010 in South Africa.
Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Arab fans in Qatar rally behind Morocco at World Cup - BusinessMirrorDOHA, Qatar—Moroccans in Qatar are feeling the love from across the Arab world ahead of their country’s World Cup clash with Spain on Tuesday. After their own teams were eliminated from the first World Cup in the Middle East, many Qatari, Saudi and Tunisians fans in Doha are now rallying behind Morocco — the last
Read more »
Brave Morocco advances as Spain flops in shootoutMorocco becomes the first Arab nation ever to reach the World Cup quarterfinals after dumping former champion Spain in a last 16 penalty shootout. FIFAWorldCup
Read more »
Belief is Croatia’s biggest weapon vs Brazil at World Cup - BusinessMirrorDOHA, Qatar—In terms of population, there's no contest between Brazil and Croatia. “Brazil has 200 million people, we only have four million,” Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić said Tuesday. “So we are pretty much like a suburb of a major city in Brazil.” Indeed, Croatia is one of the least populous countries who qualified for this World
Read more »
Poland leader backs down from World Cup players’ bonus - BusinessMirrorWARSAW, Poland—Poland’s prime minister on Tuesday backed down from his initial declaration to award bonuses to the national soccer team for it World Cup performance amid high inflation and hardship in the country. It was a sudden reversal by Mateusz Morawiecki, who just hours earlier said he believed the players had earned some kind of
Read more »
Ronaldo a solitary figure after being benched at World Cup - BusinessMirrorLUSAIL, Qatar—Cristiano Rolando was a solitary figure as he walked off the field following a World Cup match in which he was not the center of attention. He’d come off the bench in a 6-1 victory over Switzerland on Tuesday that moved Portugal into the quarterfinals. Ronaldo's 21-year-old replacement scored a hat trick in the win—a performance sure to
Read more »
Spain in mourning, local Moroccans rejoice at World Cup surpriseSpain fans were left in tears on Tuesday after the team crashed out of the World Cup on penalties to Morocco, whose fans filled the streets with cheers, flares and flags from Barcelona to Madrid and the enclave of Melilla. WorldCup2022
Read more »