Morocco prepared for tough battle with Spain

The last time an African team made the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup was in 2010 when Ghana was denied a semifinals place in the final minute by a combination of Luis Suarez’s handling of a goal-bound effort and Asamoah Gyan’s missed penalty.

The two countries met in the group stage in Qatar, and Uruguay ended up top, although they failed to get out of the group along with the West Africans, who also failed to progress.

The failure of the black stars reduced the remaining Africans at the current World Cup to two, as Cameroon and Tunisia also finished outside the top two spots of their groups.

While Senegal and Morocco progressed to the next round, there is every possibility that Africa may not have a representative in the next round. 

This is because England dismissed Senegal in a 3-0 defeat as Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane, and Bukayo Saka got on the scoresheet.

Senegal head coach Aliou Cisse explained that the team made mistakes and paid for them.

“You pay for any mistake you make at the World Cup because of the caliber of the teams. The fact we have let in a lot of goals at this tournament is difficult to explain. We are going to have to look at that.” Aliou Cisse said.

Morocco must make sure they don’t make similar mistakes when they face Spain in the round of 16 on Tuesday.

The Moroccans are having their best-ever finish at a World Cup, but they can make it better when they play Spain on Tuesday. The North Africans beat Belgium and Canada to top their group that also had Croatia.

If Morocco makes it to the Quarterfinals, they will be the first African to make it that far since Ghana in South Africa in 2010 and the Fourth African country to do so.

Previous African teams that have made it to the Quarterfinals include Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2022, and Ghana in 2010.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu