On the final matchday of the last 16 phase, Morocco and Portugal confirmed their quarter-final places in contrasting fashion as 2010 champions Spain and Switzerland crashed out of the Qatar World Cup. The Moroccans and Portuguese will now face each other this Saturday with the winner facing England or France in the semi-final. Here are the talking points from day 17, which will now be followed by two fixtureless days for the first time in the competition as the eight teams take a much-needed breather after some exhilarating action:
Portugal run riot, Swiss implode
Pre-match whispers of Cristiano Ronaldo not making the starting XI came to reality. Fernando Santos dropped the star footballer for 21-year old Goncalo Ramos, who netted the first hat-trick of the 2022 edition after 12 braces for different players. Santos' decision to start Diogo Dalot in place of Joao Cancelo also worked out well as Portugal simply swept past Murat Yakin's Switzerland, registering their biggest ever knockout stage win.
A regular in the round of 16 in recent times, the Swiss were blown away by Portugal's firepower, led by Benfica forward Ramos who previously had only 33 minutes of competitive international action under his belt. Yakin's charges, who shipped only two goals in the qualifying campaign spanning eight matches, would be forgiven if they had based their plans on the assumption that Ronaldo would lead the line. Instead, Santos opted for the youth of Ramos, and the young attacker justified the decision in some style, taking only 17 minutes to do what Ronaldo has never been able to achieve – score a goal in the knockout stage.
Ramos also became the youngest ever since Pele to notch a treble in the knockout stage, but it would be a travesty if Ramos now were to make way for Ronaldo in the Morocco clash. Santos, who guided Portugal to Euro 2016 and Nations League titles, said after the resounding victory that it was a strategic move to name Ronaldo on the bench. Perhaps he can make room for both and tweak his formation. But despite his successful time with Portugal, Santos is once again expected to face a barrage of queries heading into the quarter-final regarding Ronaldo, who has had an underwhelming campaign so far with only one goal from the spot.
Amid all the off-field distractions, Portugal will once again rely on the in-form Bruno Fernandes, who added another assist to take his goal contributions to five in Qatar (two goals, three assists), only second behind Kylian Mbappe with seven (five goals, two assists), and the influential Joao Felix. Felix ran the show against the Swiss, alongside Ramos, in an outstanding display of attacking football, while the 39-year old Pepe also found the net to become the second oldest scorer in the World Cup after Roger Milla (42).
Morocco march on, is tiki-taka holding Spain back?
The Spaniards have now failed to reach the last eight in three consecutive World Cups after their “tiki-taka” play, based on short and quick passes, brought them the elusive inaugural title in 2010 under Vicente del Bosque. In the ever-changing footballing landscape, the method that had once yielded success is now seemingly holding La Roja back.
It is no secret that Spain favor exchanging short passes between themselves, so much so that their total passes in a single game often get close to the four-figure mark. Manchester City's Rodri made a record number of passes (more than 200) in the Japan game and Tuesday, but Luis Enrique's side lost on both occasions. Other than the Costa Rica thrashing, Spain's passing has not been penetrating enough for the opposition in three encounters – resulting in two defeats and a draw.
Morocco coach Walid Regragui was resigned to his fate and accepted before the game that Spain would enjoy more possession. He set up the Atlas Lions in a compact formation and made sure the likes of Pedri, Gavi and Sergio Busquets (Spain's engine) had very little space to thread passes through to the forward line. An out-and-out goalscorer was also missing from the Spanish set-up, someone who could support Alvaro Morata with the goals.
Spain could not translate harmless dominance of possession and passes into goals as Morocco defence, marshalled superbly by Canadian-born goalkeeper Yassine “Bono” Bounou, held firm to advance to their first ever quarter-final. This is the fourth occasion an African team progressed to the quarters, and the first for an Arab or North African side. Achraf Hakimi was a rock at right back against the country of his birth, while Netherlands-born Hakim Ziyech has impressed as Morocco's leading attacking force alongside Youssef En-Nesyri, Bono's teammate at Sevilla.
Enrique made his disciples practice a thousand penalty kicks, as said by the ex-Barcelona manager, but when it was time for the real thing, they missed all three of their spot kicks, with Bono saving two and Pablo Sarabia striking the bar. Spain suffered the ignominy of being the first nation in World Cup history to lose four tie-breakers. Inquisition is already underway at European powerhouses Belgium and Germany after their humiliating exits, it is only a matter of time Spain would follow in their footsteps.