Qatar World Cup 2022: African, Arab Hope Rests on Morocco

December 10, 2022

8 Views 0

Qatar World Cup 2022: African, Arab Hope Rests on Morocco

It’s day 21 of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, and all eyes rest on Morocco to see if their sparkling run in the tournament can continue.

In their first-ever World Cup quarter-final, the Atlas Lions face Portugal at the Al Thumama Stadium at 6pm local time (3pm GMT).

Morocco beat 2010 champions Spain in their Round of 16 match on Tuesday, holding their nerve during the penalty shootout to secure a historic place in the last eight.

The North African said have been consistently strong throughout the tournament, scoring wins against Belgium and Canada and a draw against Croatia – who made the semi-finals yesterday – during the group stages.

Later today, England take on 2018 winners France for the last remaining place in the semi-finals.

9:35 AM The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Whole of Africa behind Morocco at World Cup: Regragui

Morocco will have the backing of an entire continent when they attempt to become Africa’s first World Cup semi-finalists by beating Portugal on Saturday, said coach Walid Regragui.

“We want to show that Africa deserves to be here, Morocco deserves to be here,” Regragui said on the eve of the match.

“We have a whole people behind us, a continent behind us and the Arab world behind us. That’s a lot of energy behind us.”

Morocco have the best defensive record in the tournament, having conceded only one goal in their four matches.

But Regragui warned: “We can’t rest on our laurels. We haven’t got carried away, we’ve just surprised a few people and a few algorithms who expected Belgium or Spain to be in the quarter-finals.”