DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The final day of the round of 16 wraps up Tuesday at the World Cup when Morocco takes on Spain, and Portugal goes head-to-head with Switzerland for the last two spots in the quarter-finals.
The results will be decided on the field, but for Spain and Morocco the match will be played in the context of the long and complex relationship between two border nations. separated by the Strait of Gibraltar.
As neighboring nations, there are ties between the two teams, with many of Morocco’s players speaking Spanish and the team’s medical staff being Spanish.
Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou and striker Youssef En-Nesyri play in Spain with Sevilla, Paris Saint-Germain right-back Achraf Hakimi was born in Madrid, and coach Walid Regragui played in Spain with Racing Santander.
The team also met at the World Cup just four years ago in the last group game in 2018, a 2-2 draw.
As Morocco progressed through this tournament, the national team wowed both its fans at home and the fans of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia in Doha as the last Arab team still playing.
“Everyone wants to come to Doha,” said Regragui, who became a coach in August. “We could fill two stadiums.”
Morocco is trying to secure its first appearance in the quarterfinals. Atlas Lions topped Group F with a draw against Croatia, followed by wins over Belgium and Canada to reach the knockout round for the first time since 1986.
Not a single player in the current squad was born the last time Morocco advanced so deep in the tournament, and his career in Qatar has been a source of national pride at home.
Spain opened the World Cup with a 7-0 win over Croatia, followed by a 1-1 draw with Germany. The 2-1 loss to Japan in the final group game was tense, as La Roja fluctuated between going in and out of advancing to the next round as their fate was also tied to other results.
“The match against Japan has to serve as a lesson for what is to come. Luckily that defeat has been resolved and we are clear about what we have to do”, said Gavi. “We are in the round of 16 and there are very good teams that have not been able to do it. That’s why we really have to think that pressure is a privilege.”
The loss to Japan snapped Spain’s seven-match unbeaten run and caught the attention of their players.
“We are not going to lose focus on the goal, which is to win the World Cup,” Gavi said. “We are going to look for it by being faithful to what we have been doing all these years. It would be a mistake to give up everything we believe in.”
Spain also faced Morocco in the last match of the group of teams in 2018, which ended 2-2.
Morocco is trying to match the longest unbeaten run by an African team at the World Cup, a record set by Cameroon, which went unbeaten for five games between 1982 and 1990.
“We didn’t come here just to say ‘oh, we almost got close,’” Regragui said. “We need to get the results like all the European or South American teams do. We have to emulate them.”
If Sergio Busquets plays for Spain, he would tie the national team’s World Cup record with 17 caps, a mark shared by Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos.
PORTUGAL-SWITZERLAND
Cristiano Ronaldo returns to play at this World Cup as Portugal takes on Switzerland for a spot in the quarterfinals, and all the attention is on the superstar.
And not really for the right reasons.
Following his split from Manchester United, there are rumors that Ronaldo could move to a club in Saudi Arabia for an astronomical amount of money. He came under fire for the body language he displayed when he was substituted in a match last week, and a poll in Portugal suggested fans in his home country no longer want him as part of the national team.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos was not upset by the poll and the decisions Ronaldo could make about his career at the club. After eight years in charge of Portugal, Santos is used to the distractions that come with having a global giant on the roster.
But Ronaldo’s obvious displeasure at being knocked out of the game in the 65th minute of a loss to South Korea? That irritated the coach, who did not say whether Ronaldo will captain against Switzerland on Tuesday.
“I dindt like it at all. I really didn’t like it. We fixed that internally and that’s it,” said Santos, who was non-committal to Ronaldo’s status as captain against Switzerland.
“I only decide who is going to be the captain when I arrive at the stadium. I don’t know what the lineup is,” Santos said.
Ronaldo opened the tournament by becoming the first player to score a goal in five World Cups. But there is a blemish on his record: a big zero in goals scored in the World Cup in the knockout phase. He is heading to what will likely be his last World Cup to play a Swiss team that hasn’t reached the quarterfinals since 1954.
That doesn’t mean Switzerland can’t challenge Portugal. The Swiss knocked out reigning World Cup champions France in the round of 16 at the European Championships last year and have been one of the most consistent teams at this tournament.
“We have seen how elated the Swiss are to be at this stage,” coach Murat Yakin said on Monday. “We have shown that we are capable of beating them.”
___
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup Y https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
