New Delhi, India

On Tuesday (December 06), Morocco were up against 2010 winners Spain in the Round of 16 clash during the FIFA World Cup 2022 edition. After the regulation and extra time saw both sides being levelled at 0-0, the game went to the penalty shootout -- the second time in the ongoing edition in Qatar -- and led to Morocco stunning the ex-champions with a 3-0 deficit. With this performance, Morocco became the first African nation to win a penalty shoot-out in FIFA World Cup history. In addition, it became only the fourth African side (after Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010) to enter the last eight in the showpiece event.

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Talking about the game, it was a closely-fought encounter where the European nation had plenty of chances but missed them all. They took 13 shots but after a full 120’ minutes, both teams remained at 0-0 scoreline. The Atlas Lions upped the ante in the last few minutes during the extra time before scoring three in the penalty shootout, out of their four attempts, to make it to the next round. 

Also read: Is Cristiano Ronaldo moving to Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr? Ex-Man United striker finally opens up

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Morocco's campaign has been a dream affair. They were placed in a tough group, i.e. Group F, where they held the 2018 runners-up Croatia for a 0-0 draw before stunning the star-studded Belgium line-up, beating them 2-0, and went on to win their last group stage match versus Canada (by a 2-1 margin). Thus, they remain undefeated in the ongoing FIFA WC and will now lock horns with Cristiano Ronaldo-led Portugal in the quarter-finals on Saturday (December 10).

Can they make it to the top four? Only time will tell...