With Spain's unexpected exit, Morocco jumped into the World Cup's last eight, which not only opened a new chapter for African teams in the tournament, but also made Morocco the fourth African soccer team ever to be among the top eight. Back in 2010, African teams achieved this feat for the first time in the World Cup, and the coach at that time, Regla Gueye, also became the first African coach to lead his team into the last eight of the World Cup.
As the game came to an end, the Moroccan team instantly boiled over as the players lifted goalkeeper Bounou high in the air to celebrate the victory. What's more, the team also knelt down collectively to express their gratitude to the Moroccan fans who came from afar for their enthusiastic support and relentless cheering.
Although domestic fans may not be familiar with this team from North Africa, they do not seem to have attracted much attention on the World Cup stage. However, it is worth mentioning that the Moroccan men's soccer team played against China in the last century and won two consecutive matches (one win, one draw, and one loss.) In 1977, Morocco was invited to participate in the Great Wall Cup, and ended up defeating the national soccer team 2-3, but was invited again the following year, and ended up with a 3-3 draw.
Time flies, 40 years have passed, the Chinese men's soccer team has been reduced to the third rate in Asia, 20 consecutive years and the World Cup finals have no chance. Morocco, on the other hand, is emerging in the African soccer world, the first time into the World Cup eight. The contrast in strength between the two teams seems to be widening.
