Morocco shocked Spain on penalties to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time in their history.
After a compelling but scoreless 90 minutes, Morocco were victorious in the second shootout of the tournament as Spain felt penalty heartbreak for the third consecutive tournament – failing to score a single spot kick.
The first chance of the first half fell to Morocco, with Achraf Hakimi whipping a 25-yard free-kick narrowly over the top, while Marco Asensio lashed into the side-netting after an excellent run to beat the offside trap.
The second half failed to produce anything by way of goalmouth action, with La Roja dominating possession but doing little with it, although Unai Simón did almost cause an injury-time panic attack by taking too much time in his area, only for the chance to escape Morocco as the game moved into extra-time.
In the final moment of the first half of extra-time, the underdogs came close to breaking the deadlock on a rare break but Walid Cheddira snatched at his chance when through on goal and fired straight at Simón.
And with the final moment of the second half of extra-time, Spain came within inches of breaking Moroccan hearts, only for substitute Pablo Sarabia’s strike to hit the post.
In the shootout, Pablo Sarabia, Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets all missed from 12 yards as they lost their third successive shootout to exit an international tournament – Achraf Hakimi supplying the coupe de grâce with a Panenka for a 3-0 victory.