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FIFA World Cup 2022: Stats and Facts as Morocco and Portugal qualify for quarterfinals

Morocco stunned Spain while Portugal cruised past Switzerland in the two World Cup 2022 knockout fixtures on Tuesday.

Pepe Portugal

Morocco stunned Spain while Portugal cruised past Switzerland in the two World Cup 2022 knockout fixtures on Tuesday.

A fantastic Morocco team won in the penalty shoot-out to send Spain home, and in the late-night match, it was Portugal who played their best game of the tournament as they demolished Switzerland 6-1.

Morocco and Portugal will meet each other in the quarterfinals on December 10. Here we focus on some stats and facts from both games-

Morocco vs Spain:

  • Spain lost 3-0 in the penalty shootout against Morocco. It was their 4th loss in the tiebreakers and they are the team with the most losses in the tiebreakers.
  • Spain became the second team in WC history to not score a goal in a penalty shootout. Switzerland are the only team except them to have suffered the same fate (against Ukraine, 2006).
  • Morocco became the 4th African team to reach the quarterfinals. Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010) are the others.
  • Morocco boss Walid Regragui is the first ever African manager to lead his team in the quarterfinals of the biggest stage of World Football.

Portugal vs Switzerland:

  • Portugal boss Fernando Santos benched Cristiano Ronaldo for the match. This is the first time Ronaldo didn't for Portugal at a major tournament since 2008. It was the 2008 Euros against Switzerland when the last time the talismanic forward wasn't in the starting lineup for his nation.
  • Goncalo Ramos scored his debut goal for Portugal and marked his first-ever international start with a hattrick. He is the second player to score a hattrick on his first WC start, only after Miroslav Klose.
Goncalo Ramos Portugal
  • Portugal defender Pepe became the oldest player to score in a WC knockout match at the age of 39 years and 283 days.
  • Bruno Fernandes ranks 3rd among Portuguese players in goal involvements in a single WC edition. He has 5 goal involvements in this World Cup, with 2 goals and 3 assists. Only Eusebio (10) and Jose Torres (6) are ahead of him.
  • Portugal also advanced to the quarterfinals stage for the first time since 2006.

(with input from Opta stats)

Story first published: Wednesday, December 7, 2022, 11:22 [IST]
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