Tag: Atlas Lions of Morocco

Morocco's win over 2010 World Cup champions Spain after penalties in the round of 16 to reach their first ever quarterfinals in the World Cup has set the tone for the Atlas Lions to break further jinx.

Aside reaching their first ever quarterfinals in this World Cup, Morocco became the second African nation after Nigeria to finish top of a FIFA World Cup since the USA 1994 when Nigeria accomplished that feat. There win over Spain also makes them the fourth African nation to reach the quarterfinal after Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010). They are also the first Arab nation to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup, a feat which host Qatar hoped to accomplish but were unceremoniously expunged from the group stage after failing to record a victory. The journey to reaching this stage was tough, the fact that they beat a star-studded Belgium who had reigned on FIFA ranking for months by 2-0 in the group stage shows they are capable of recording further positive results. The Atlas Lions of Morocco have exhibited high level of discipline in as a team, and this has probably kept them going. When they face Portugal on Saturday, they will be looking forward to becoming the first African nation to reach the semifinal of the World Cup, a feat which the continent had long hoped to accomplish over 30 years.