Spain and Morocco will battle to get to the next round of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar when both sides face Education City Stadium on Tuesday.
Venue: Education City Stadium (Al Rayyan)
Key Statistics
Morocco are unbeaten in their last ten games (W7, D3).
They have kept seven clean sheets in their last ten games.
Spain have lost just two of their last 14 games (W8, D3).
They have kept two clean sheets in their last six games.
Spain are undefeated in four of their previous five World Cup matches against African nations (W3, D1).
Spain have found the back of the net inside 15 minutes in three of their last four matches.
World Cup trivia: Spain’s only defeat to an African nation at the World Cup came via a 3-2 loss to Nigeria in 1998, with current manager Luis Enrique starting for Spain in that game.
Head to head
Spain have won twice against Morocco in three head-to-head meetings between both sides.
Latest performances in all competitions
Morocco: W-W-D-W-D
Spain: L-D-W-W-W
Morocco
Morocco will look to cause another World Cup upset this Tuesday when they take on Spain in the Round of 16 stage of the World Cup.
The Atlas Lions have been one of the best teams in Qatar this year, winning two of their group stage games (D1), including a 2-0 win over World Number Two, Belgium.
They finished top of their group and so ended 36 years of World Cup disappointment by finally progressing to a knockout phase of the tournament.
Manager Walid Regragui has challenged his players to “aim for the sky” and dream of lifting the famous trophy. Regragui’s side are now unbeaten in their last four World Cup (W2, D2) matches and could become the first African nation since Cameroon in 1990 to go five straight games undefeated at the World Cup finals.
The African side’s success so far has been built on their robust defence, which conceded just one goal across the group stage, a record no side in the competition could better ahead of the knockouts. That record extended Morocco’s record of keeping a clean sheet in six of their last seven matches, which perhaps gives them a platform to spring another huge upset against world number seven Spain having beaten world number two Belgium.
Possible Morocco starting line-up
Yassine Bounou, Achraf Hakimi, Nayef Aguerd, Romain Saiss, Noussair Mazraoui, Azzedine Ounahi, Sofyan Amrabat, Abdelhamid Sabiri, Hakim Ziyech, Youssef En-Nesyri, Sofiane Boufal.
Injured: None
Doubtful: Walid Cheddira
Suspended: None
Spain
Spain will look to get their first win in three World Cup games when they face Morocco at the Education Stadium on Tuesday.
Luis Enrique’s side began their campaign in Qatar with a 7-0 hammering of Costa Rica. However, they have failed to win any of their subsequent two games, drawing 1-1 with Germany before losing to Japan 2-1 in their last game.
Despite that loss, they still qualified for this stage of the tournament and will now hope to beat a Morocco side that they have not lost to in each of the three previous H2H meetings between these two sides (W2, D1).
Although the most recent meeting at the Russia World Cup in 2018 ended 2-2, with a last-minute equaliser in the group stage contest sparing Spain’s blushes. Spain went on to be eliminated at the last-16 stage by Russia in that tournament, and have not progressed into the quarter-finals since 2010 – the year they claimed their only World Cup crown.
Luis Enrique’s men will fancy their chances of winning this game given that they are unbeaten in four of their previous five World Cup matches against African nations (W3, D1).
Possible Spain starting line-up
Unai Simón, Daniel Carvajal, Rodri, Aymeric Laporte, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Gavi, Pedri, Ferrán Torres, Álvaro Morata, Dani Olmo.
Injured: None
Doubtful: Cesar Azpilicueta
Suspended: None
Odds
| Odds-Morocco | Odds-Spain | % Morocco | % Spain | |
| To qualify | 4.000 | 1.250 | 23.58 | 76.42 |
| In 90 mins | 7.000 | 1.530 | 13.04 | 59.68 |
| In Extra-time | 26.000 | 10.000 | 3.51 | 9.13 |
| In Penalty | 13.000 | 12.000 | 7.02 | 7.61 |
Prediction
Morocco 2-1 Spain
Live Stream
For details, FIFA Qatar World Cup 2022 – TV Broadcast / Live Stream
