Spain enters their first clash of the day, whether on a direct confrontation or across the continent, with eyes fixed on a decisive afternoon. The Spanish national team are set to face Morocco in the last sixteen of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, a match that kicks off at 16:00 local time. A victory would propel Spain into the quarterfinals, a stage they are determined to reach. The other last-16 tie of the day pits the winner of Portugal against Switzerland, scheduled to begin at 20:00, presenting a potential high-stakes pairing for the quarterfinals.
Looking back through the archives, this afternoon marks the fourth competitive meeting between Spain and Morocco in the modern era. The most recent encounter occurred at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, during the group stage. On matchday three, the teams drew 2-2. Morocco surged ahead through a strike from Khalid Boutaïb, only for Spain to level five minutes later through Isco. The comeback continued as the Africans reclaimed the lead with a late goal from En-Nesyri, but Iago Aspas rescued a point at the end of the whistle, allowing Spain to finish as group winners and progress to the knockout rounds (Source: World Cup match reports, archived records).
Additional memories from the series stretch back further to the 1960s. The two teams met in the playoffs for the 1962 World Cup in Chile, a two-legged affair. In the first leg, a single goal from Luis del Sol settled a 0-1 result in favor of Spain. In the second leg, played at the iconic Santiago Bernabéu, Spain consolidated its hold on the World Cup berth with a 3-2 victory. On the Spanish side, scorers included Marcelino, Di Stefano, and Enrique Collar, while Morocco’s goals were supplied by Sellam Riahi and Larbi Ben Belaid. These early encounters helped shape a long-standing competitive relationship between the two nations (Source: historical match records and federation archives).
Overall, the ledger between Spain and Morocco tilts in favor of the Spanish team, featuring two wins and one draw from their three prior confrontations, along with a goal tally that shows six goals for Spain and four conceded. Today’s match adds another line to that evolving logbook, continuing a tradition of high-stakes duels between two capable sides in a World Cup knockout context.