As all around him lost their cool, Achraf Hakimi kept his.
He even did a Panenka. A Panenka, with all that history in his hands, with all those thousands holding their breath in the stands on top of him and the many millions no doubt doing the same back home.
But he simply chipped home his penalty, the winning penalty, to knock out Spain and send Morocco through to the World Cup quarter-finals. A first World Cup quarter-final, 36 years after their only other attempt to make it that far.
Hakimi, the Madrid-born full-back, had vanquished Spain, those 2010 champions, settling a tense but thrilling goalless encounter at Education City Stadium on Tuesday with one swish of his ice-cold boot. Pablo Sarabia, Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets all missed from the spot for Spain, or rather goalkeeper Bono repelled them, the last line in that wall of resolute red.
Just like the 2018 global finals and last year’s rescheduled Euro 2020, Spain would suffer another shoot-out heartache – their fourth in five at the World Cup – but this should be all about Morocco.
Not given much chance of escaping a group containing Belgium and Croatia, they reside now as the fourth African side to make the World Cup last eight, the first from the north of the continent to do so. They are the first Arab representative to have survived this far at a global finals.
In Qatar, they haven’t been beaten; they haven’t even been breached by an opposition player. The solitary goal conceded in four matches came from their own defender, Nayef Aguerd.
Walid Regragui, the recently appointed manager with the instant Midas touch, labelled it pre-match as “the biggest game in our history”, and his mighty men grabbed it with both hands. Morocco were, as they have been for much of the tournament, monumental; Spain sent packing.
Unpacking that previous 120 minutes was no envious task. Spain dominated possession, with 77 per cent of the ball, but Morocco probably carved the clearest chances. Moments before half-time, Sofiane Boufal tricked enough room to cross, and Aguerd headed off target. Unmarked, and yards from the Spain goal, it seemed easier to score.
Morocco 0-0 Spain (Morocco win 3-0 on penalties) - player ratings
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MOROCCO RATINGS: Bono, 9 – The eccentric keeper performed like his namesake with some fantastic saves, but most importantly, he was the saviour in the shootout. AFP -
Achraf Hakimi, 9 – The audacious PSG sensation rounded off a great defensive display with a panenka to knock out the Spanish. AFP -
Nayef Aguerd, 8 – The West Ham star was disappointed to hobble off with an injury after showcasing great focus throughout to go alongside some key clearances. AFP -
Romain Saiss, 8 – Captain supreme was a vocal leader from start to finish and barely missed a step outside of a needless yellow card. AFP -
Noussair Mazraoui, 7 – After losing a few early battles, Mazraoui went box to box with great challenges and a nice effort that tested the keeper in the first half. EPA -
Azzedine Ounahi, 8 – Cleared everything up just in front of the defence and always looked like an important presence on the counter. AFP -
Sofyan Amrabat, 9 – Looked strong whenever he was challenged, never stopped running and prevented several key through balls from reaching the box. EPA -
Selim Amallah, 8 – The midfielder provided some smart cover when Morocco needed it and had a few nicely-timed interceptions. AFP -
Hakim Ziyech, 8 – Chelsea’s finest came up big with a strong performance at both ends of the pitch, capping it off with a successful penalty. Getty -
Youssef En-Nesyri, 7 – Outside of a few nice plays on the defensive side of things, the big centre forward barely had a meaningful touch. EPA -
Sofiane Boufal, 7 – While he was forced to drop quite deep to get into the action, Boufal showed solid footwork and did a good job of hunting down the ball. EPA -
SUBS: Abde Ezzalzouli, 7 – Worked hard to make things happen down the flank despite not having many big opportunities. EPA -
Walid Cheddira, 5 – The substitute forward had three golden opportunities to put Spain away, but unfortunately, he didn’t take any of them. AP -
Abdelhamid Sabiri, 8 – After some amazing moments at the back, Sabiri buried his penalty to send Morocco on their way to victory. PA -
Jawad El Yamiq, 7 – Did well to shield the ball every time he was called upon and saved Morocco from late heartbreak at the end of extra time. AP -
Yahya Attiyat Allah, 7 – The no-nonsense defender held off his man, kept his composure when needed and did his job perfectly. Getty -
Badr Benoun, N/A – Didn’t have much time to make an impact in what served as a brief cameo prior to the shootout, in which he missed a penalty. Getty -
SPAIN RATINGS: Unai Simon, 7 - Couldn’t quite hold a 32nd minute powerful shot from Mazraoui but then grabbed hold of it. Saved a 104th minute shot from Cheddira. Saved Morocco’s third penalty. Getty -
Jordi Alba, 7 - Gave the ball away which led to Morocco’s best chance of the first half. Up against tactically disciplined opponents who limited his advances. EPA -
Aymeric Laporte, 8 - Defended well. Key header away in a spell of Moroccan pressure on 43. Booked on 76. Had a free header on 95 minutes and got a touch to stop a Moroccan chance on goal. AFP -
Rodri, 8 - The Manchester City defender and his club teammate Laporte completed more passes than the entire Morocco team. Little got past them, but when they were beaten Morocco had three solid chances. AFP -
Marcos Llorente, 6 - Not usually a right back, it showed too often in front of the predominantly Moroccan contingent of the 44,667 present. AFP -
Sergio Busquets, 6 - Spain had 81% of possession but while Busquets normally has one of the highest involvement rates, Morocco squeezed him and his 57 touches (after 90 minutes) compared badly to 168 for Rodri and 149 for Laporte immediately behind him. 120th minute shot blocked as he pushed forward. Had his penalty, Spain’s third, saved. AFP -
Pedri, 6 - Difficult to advance against the tenacious Amrabat as Spain went to extra time for the fifth successive time in a major tournament. EPA -
Gavi, 6 - The youngest player to start a knock-out game at the World Cup since Pele, his 25th minute shot was pushed on to the bar – though it was offside. AFP -
Dani Olmo, 5 - Played in an attack which only had one shot on target in the first half, the lowest ever for Spain in a World Cup match. He made it two on 54 with a strike on target from a tight angle. His 94th minute free-kick was goal-bound and well saved. Reuters -
Marco Asensio, 5 - Smashed a shot into the side netting after a brilliant run to beat the offside trap. And that was about it against a highly competent defence. AFP -
Ferran Torres, 5 - Nutmegged the excellent Mazraoui after 47 and won a free-kick when pulled back. No shots, let alone on target and no key balls as Spain were stifled by their neighbours. AP -
SUBS: Carlos Soler, 6 - On for Gavi on 63. Whipped a 90th minute free-kick in. Took Spain’s second penalty - poor and saved. AFP -
Alvaro Morata, 5 - On for Asensio after 63. Ran into the Morocco box on 69. Struck a shot across goal on 81. Poor header in 90th minute from a Soler cross. Couldn’t find a final pass in a 116th minute attack. AP -
Nico William, 5 - On for Torres after 75. Lively. Set up Morata with a shot. Then brought off himself. AP -
Alejandro Balde, 6 - On for Alba after 97. Shot blocked two minutes later. EPA -
Ansu Fati, 6 - On for Olmo on 97. Brought energy to Spain’s attack. AFP -
Pablo Sarabia, 6 - On for Williams after 118 and hit a very good ball in – then hit the post with his own shot after 123 minutes, the last play of the game. Missed Spain’s first penalty. Getty
But Spain pressed forward. For much of the second-half, Morocco couldn’t get a hold of the ball. Pushed ever deeper, they were in danger of being picked apart. But they preferred instead to puff out their chests.
Sofyan Amrabat, a one-man barricade in central midfield, blocked brilliantly from Nico Williams. In injury-time, Bono pushed away Dani Olmo’s in-swinging free-kick. In between, substitute Alvaro Morata headed woefully off target having snuck around the back of the Morocco defence at a free-kick.
In the first half of extra-time, Morocco thought they had snatched it. Azzedine Ounahi rolled in Walid Cheddira but, faced with only Simon to beat, the substitute could not place his effort beyond the Athletic Bilbao stopper’s legs.
With the last kick before spot-kicks, Sarabia struck the outside of the Morocco post with a volley. He then did the same with his penalty, Spain’s first that set the tone.
Then Abdelhamid Sabiri scored for Morocco, Hakim Ziyech, too. Soler saw his spot-kick saved, Badr Benoun suffered the same fate. But Busquets could not get past Bono, the Morocco goalkeeper leaping to his right to set the stage for Hakimi. In truth, Spain were tame from 12 yards.
Hakimi, the star player in a team crammed with soon-to-be-similar, placed down the ball, inhaled deep, blocked out the thousands waiting with bated breath and dinked home a Panenka. He was soon swallowed up by teammates; not long after, Regragui got the bumps.
Morocco had bumped out Spain, and chiselled their place in the record books.
Morocco fans celebrate their victory - in pictures
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Moroccan supporters in Paris celebrate after their team advanced to the quarter-finals of the tournament. EPA -
A young man is thrown in the air by Moroccan supporters as part of celebrations in Milan, Italy. AP -
People celebrate at Msheireb Metro Station in Doha, Qatar, after Morocco beat Spain in a penalty shootout at the Fifa World Cup on Tuesday. Getty -
Thousands gather in Rabat, Morocco, to celebrate. AP -
Moroccan fans in Marseille party after their team's penalty shoot-out win at the World Cup in Qatar. AP -
Moroccan fans celebrate in La Ramblas, Spain. Reuters -
Moroccans party on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris. EPA -
Celebrations in Rabat, Morocco. AP -
Moroccan celebrations in Barcelona. AP
