JAKARTA - Despite Morocco overthrowing Belgium's second world ranking in the group stage, Spain is more favorite to win the World Cup round of 16 which will take place on Tuesday night.
But of course the experience of the teams competing in the group stage warns that nothing is certain in the football tournament.
Spain, which beat Costa Rica 7-0 in their opening match to second place in Group E below Japan.
As Morocco saw, they reached the last 16 after winning Group F by finishing above runners-up four years ago Croatia and Belgium.
Inevitably, the winning side of Belgium and the lesson from Japan that defeated Spain, the 2010 world champion in their final group stage match, made Morocco even more confident in defeating anyone, including Spain.
Under coach Walid Regragui, Morocco beat Canada 2-1 to reach the last 16 for the second and first time since the 1986 World Cup.
FIFA uploaded a photo of Regragui holding his right hand in a split avocado with the contents of a small football, while his left index was affixed to the forehead, as a message containing challenges to those who had been criticizing him.
The goal that Canada set forward against Morocco was the first conceding in North Africa in six games during a team coached by Regragui.
When celebrating the victory over Canada, Morocco's players gathered around Regragui while taking turns wiping the coach's head.
"They like beating my head. Maybe this is a sign of luck for them," Regragui told reporters.
Morocco likes to pile up players on the back while waiting for opponents to let their guard down to then punish them with a deadly counter-attack that relies on Hakim Ziyech's speed and skills who returned to the national team when Regragui took over the team, after clashing with the previous coach, Vahid Hailhodzic.
The Atlas Lion started this final with a goalless draw against Croatia before posting a convincing 2-0 win over Belgium.
The victory over Belgium was created even though the team was not strengthened by goalkeeper Yassine Bounou who could not enter the field because he was sick before kickoff.
On the other hand, Spain drew 1-1 with Germany after beating Costa Rica. After they were defeated by Japan, coach Luis Enrique leveled his team.
"I really don't like it. Yes, we qualify, I want to win this game. So it's impossible because in five minutes Japan has scored two goals... we were eliminated, we were stripped," Enrique said as reported by Reuters.
Enrique's adopted Tiki-Taka style of play relies on Barcelona's midfield trio consisting of Sergio Busquets, Pedri and Gavi.
During the first half of the match against Costa Rica, the Spanish squad successfully passed 537 passes which was the record for most passes in World Cup history.
But football is not just a matter of bait and possession of the ball, because Spain must also show sharpness in managing opportunities to stay on track of winning the second world title.
Predictions of the first eleven players
Morocco (4-3-3): Bono; Achraf Hakimi, Romain Saiss, Nayef Aguerd, Noussair Mazraoui; Azzedine Ounahi, Sofyan Amrabat, Abdelhamid Sahiri; Hakim Ziyech, Youssef En-Nesyri, Sofiane Boufal.
Spain (4-3-3): Unai Simon; Dani Carvajal, Rodri, Aymeric Laporte, Jordi Alba; Pedri, Sergio Busquets, Gavi; Ferran Torres, Alvaro Morata, Dani Olmo.
Important statistics and head to head
This is the fourth meeting between the two countries since 1961 and the second in a World Cup tournament. Spain won twice, but at the third meeting at the 2018 World Cup in Russia ended in a 2-2 draw.
Morocco is unbeaten in six games under coach Walidragui who since September has been investigating them. Morocco conceded only one goal against Canada in their last game.
Morocco reached the round of 16 for the second time since 1986. This is the first time an Arab coach has brought a team to the knockout stages.
Luis Enrique has coached Spain since July 2018 after they were knocked out of the World Cup in Russia but quit in June 2019 for personal reasons. He coached again the national team four months later.
Luis Enrique led Spain to the semifinals of Euro 2020 last year and then the European Nations League final to lose to France.
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