Amrabat best encapsulates Morocco's unexpected World Cup progression
With almost 114 minutes on the clock and Moroccan legs growing wearier by the second, Spain won a loose ball in midfield. Pedri claimed it and played a pass to Carlos Soler, one of three teammates in support.
The PSG midfielder barely had time to take a touch before Sofyan Amrabat stole in and muscled him off it. He then rolled his studs over the ball to resist Pedri’s pressure, performed a Cruyff turn to escape the attention of Soler, and slid a pass upfield to Abde Ezzalzouli. It was a moment that neatly encapsulated Amrabat’s magnificent contribution to Morocco’s greatest ever World Cup achievement.
The Atlas Lions ultimately prevailed over Spain on penalties, scoring three spot-kicks while their opponents failed to find the net. It is hard to argue they did not deserve it. Morocco defended with discipline, organisation and intelligence across two hours of high-stakes football, successfully keeping at bay a side that had scored nine goals in the group stage.
There was plenty in their performance to admire. Sofiane Boufal dazzled on the left wing, while Hakim Ziyech combined craft and graft on the other flank. Romain Saiss and Nayef Aguerd repelled countless Spain attacks. Yassine Bounou saved two penalties in the shoot-out, before Achraf Hakimi scored the decisive spot-kick with a stunningly cool Panenka.
Amrabat was as important as any of his teammates to this victory, which made Morocco only the fourth African nation to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. He is the beating heart of Walid Regragui’s side and the type of player who elevates the performance of those around him.
No player on the Education City Stadium pitch bettered his tally of four tackles. The Liverpool-linked Amrabat has proved himself to be an expert at breaking up play throughout the tournament. Of the midfielders to have reached the knockout phase, he ranks seventh for tackles per 90 (2.3). At 1.4 per 90, Amrabat is fifth for interceptions, behind only Aurelien Tchouameni, Declan Rice, Luka Modric and Rodrigo De Paul.
He is much lower than that quartet when it comes to passing, which is no surprise given that only Costa Rica (30.2%) have a lower possession average than Morocco (32.7%). But Amrabat is not a passenger in possession. Like most of his teammates, the 26-year-old looks to get the ball forward quickly. Morocco are a team that like to defend deep before counter-attacking at speed, and Amrabat contributes to both parts of that approach.
Regragui’s team are direct, but not in the sense of lumping long balls forward in the vague direction of the striker, Youssef En-Nesyri. They play incisive, vertical passes through the pitch, and while Amrabat sits deeper than midfield colleagues Selim Amallah and Azzedine Ounahi, he is capable of going on driving runs through the centre.
The Fiorentina man also possesses remarkable stamina, as he demonstrated with his endless running against Spain. Morocco sat very deep in a compact defensive shape, but crucially they combined this with intensity and competitiveness when the ball was there to be won. With his sheer doggedness and determination, Amrabat – Morocco’s disruptor-in-chief – exemplified his team’s efforts.
Portugal will begin Saturday’s quarter-final as strong favourites. With Goncalo Ramos starring up front, Fernando Santos’ charges demolished Switzerland 6-1. Whereas Morocco played for 120 gruelling minutes in the round of 16, Portugal were able to take their foot off the gas and conserve energy in the second half.
Yet no one will write the Atlas Lions off given their exploits so far in Qatar. They have still only conceded once this tournament, and that was an own goal in the victory over Canada. Spain made more than 1000 passes last time out, yet they were restricted to just one shot on target.
Throughout the World Cup Morocco have done well to prevent their opponents having efforts on goal. Regragui’s men have given up 8.3 shots per game, fewer than fellow quarter-finalists England (8.8), Portugal (10.8), Croatia (11.3) and the Netherlands (13). Meanwhile they top the charts of all 32 teams for tackles per game (23) and are fifth for interceptions (10.5).
Aguerd and Saiss both sustained injuries against Spain, but Morocco will hope to patch the centre-backs up in time for Saturday. Amrabat revealed after the game that he had been a fitness doubt for the last-16 tie, which makes his lung-busting display even more impressive.
"Yesterday I spent until 3am with the physio to do everything to be fit and I played with painkilling injections," he said in an emotional post-match interview. "But I couldn’t leave the boys and my country behind. I’m just very happy and proud."
