Morocco have dumped Spain out of the World Cup in a last-16 penalty shootout, with Spanish-born Achraf Hakimi scoring the decisive spot-kick and Spain squandering all three of their attempts, after a 0-0 draw over 120 minutes.
A product of the Real Madrid youth system, Hakimi calmly slotted his penalty past Unai Simon in Spain's goal to seal Morocco's 3-0 win in the shootout.
During the 90 minutes plus extra time, Spain dominated possession, but failed to create many clear chances against Morocco's stubborn defence.
Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou saved spot-kicks from Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets, after Pablo Sarabia hit the post, and Spanish-born Hakimi held his nerve to earn his team a quarter-final against either Portugal or Switzerland.
Morocco became only the fourth African nation to reach the last eight of the tournament, 12 years after Ghana did so in South Africa.
A scrappy match finished deadlocked at 0-0 after extra time with few shots on target, then Morocco fed off the raucous support of their red-clad supporters in the shootout, as Spain crumbled.
Spain enjoyed more than 75 percent of possession and completed almost 800 passes, but Morocco caused problems for them on the counterattack and goalkeeper Unai Simon made some good saves.
Spain were knocked out of the World Cup on penalties for the fourth time and the second in a row.
Morocco advanced to a quarter-final clash with either Portugal or Switzerland, who meet later on Wednesday (NZ time).
Reuters
