Brazil players hold Pelé banner up following World Cup win against South Korea
Morocco play Spain in the last 16 of the Qatar World Cup today, with the winners set to face Portugal or Switzerland in the quarter-finals.
Spain finished second in their group despite thrashing Costa Rica and drawing with Germany, due to a shock loss to Japan on their last matchday of the first round.
Meanwhile, Morocco stunned Belgium and beat Canada after an opening draw with Croatia, topping their group to set up this tie with 2010 champions Spain.
Later today, Portugal take on Switzerland in the final last-16 game of Qatar 2022, with the victors from that match-up playing the winners of this game in the next round.
Follow all the action with our live blog below:
Morocco 0-0 Spain
8 mins: Nice play from Morocco. Hakim Ziyech is slipped into space on the right wing but doesn’t have men in the box to cross the ball to and loses possession.
The African side get the ball back and attack down the left this time. Sofiane Boufal weaves around a defender and carries the ball up alongside the box before getting tackled. He goes down hoping for a free kick but doesn’t get one.
Still, it’s encouraging for Morocco who are getting themselves into good areas out wide.
Morocco 0-0 Spain
5 mins: Almost! Spain take control of the ball once more and pass it slickly around the pitch. It comes to Pedri on the left side of the midfield and he dinks a pacey pass up to the edge of the penalty area to match Gavi’s run.
Gavi gets a touch to the ball but can’t bring it down and it bounces safely through to Yassine Bounou (Bono) in Morocco’s goal.
Morocco 0-0 Spain
3 mins: Noussair Mazraoui nicks the ball off Ferran Torres and passes it inside to Sofyan Amrabat.
Morocco work the ball quickly over to Achraf Hakimi but Dani Olmo is quick to press and forces Hakimi to knock the ball out of play as he attempts to send a pass down the line.
Kick off: Morocco 0-0 Spain
Spain get the ball rolling in this last-16 tie. The knock the ball around the back before sending a diagonal pass over to the left wing. Jordi Alba is given the ball but he’s clattered by Hakim Ziyech who gives away the first free kick of the match.
Morocco vs Spain
The teams head out onto the pitch and the national anthems are sung. Noise level goes up several decibels when the Moroccan anthem is belted out. The African side have a lot of supporters watching the game today.
Can they help their team pick up an historic win?
‘The biggest game in our history'
Morocco coach Walid Regragui has labelled this match ‘the biggest game in Morocco’s history’ when speaking about what it means to reach the knockout rounds of the World Cup. He said: “It is the biggest game of our history but I hope the biggest will be the next one.
“Our elders cannot replay their game against West Germany while the Spain game is ahead of us. I don’t think we should go out with any sort of complex.
“Yes, we’re the underdog, but we know what Spain are made of and the recipe is easy. We shouldn’t be worried, we should have no regrets and give the best of ourselves.
“We’ve also got things up our sleeve. We’ve had one extra rest day compared to them and we’re going to try and pull a surprise out of the bag.”
Morocco vs Spain
The Moroccan side seem to have a togetherness and a determination not to get kicked out of the tournament this afternoon. They’re coming up against a very good Spanish team so things will be tricky for them.
Yet, they’ve got plenty of support inside the stadium and a good set of players who will give it their all. Can Morocco actually beat Spain?
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
Will Morata score again?
Alvaro Morata has scored in each of his last three World Cup appearances for Spain, despite playing a total of just 126 minutes across those games.
The only Spain player to score in four World Cup games in a row is David Villa in 2010.
If he is to equal that record today he’ll have to do so as a substitute as Luis Enrique has decided to start the forward on the bench.
Morocco vs Spain
Morocco are the last African team left in the World Cup.
Extra flights were put on from Morocco to Qatar after they reached the last 16 and last night more than 1,000 Moroccans gathered at the ticket office hoping to watch today’s match.
According to reports there were some altercations and riot police got involved.
The Moroccan embassy says it has given 500 tickets to Moroccans living in Qatar and Fifa has made 5,000 extra tickets available for Morocco fans.
