1. Penalty clowns – the sequel
If Japan committed harakiri in the penalty shootout with Croatia, Spain’s spotkick takers were suicidal as well, missing three attempts like the Japanese.
Spain’s collapse from 12 yards is laughable: they had practised more than 1,000 penalties over the past year in anticipation of facing spotkicks in the knockout stages in Qatar.
They had to practise as Spain have won only one of their four World Cup penalty shootouts – against the Republic of Ireland in the last 16 in 2002.
It was a beautiful day for Morocco keeper Bono (Yassine Bounou) who saved all three penalties. Social media went wild with U2 puns.
Not one opponent has beaten Canada-born Bono, who has played in Spain for a decade now, at this World Cup. The only shot that went past him was an own goal.
He was a man-mountain even when it went to penalties. He saved two of them from Spain captain Sergio Busquets, the last of the 2010 title-winning team, and from Valencia midfielder Carlos Soler.
That was after he had watched the first hit the post. Paris St-Germain midfielder Pablo Sarabia, who had been sent on with just two minutes to go, specifically for the shootout, had earlier missed scoring the winning goal when he hit the post.
Achraf Hakimi, born and raised in Madrid, knocked Spain out of the World Cup with the deftest of penalties, barely breaking into a run, and gently dinking it into the net.
Walid Regragui, who only took over as Morocco manager in August, joined the players and fans in a dance to celebrate a place in the quarter-finals.
2. Spain: all passing, no shots
Spain manager Luis Enrique described defeat by Japan in their third group match as “a punch in the face”.
Last night, a brave Morocco side spectacularly delivered a knockout blow to his team.
This was a tense and fascinating game won, an upset caused, not by superior skill, but by courage and persistence.
A delirious African team, an Arab team, had made their own slice of history and a tournament of unstinting drama took its least likely turn yet.
The rebukes will be loud and long. Enrique’s possession-based philosophy of all passing, no shots – for instance, 862 passes after 100 minutes or so – will draw backlash.
Spain have got one way of playing: they dominate possession but can find no end-product because they don’t have the firepower upfront.
That is how Spain have always played, and 2008-2012 aside, it usually resulted in them losing to so-called lesser teams.
3. Atlas Lions roar
The Atlas Lions snuffed the fury of La Furia Roja (Red Fury) and lit Morocco with full-throated collective joy.
Morocco’s win offered some weight to talk of a global shift in the game, even if discussions now are about how good Kylian Mbappe is and if football is coming home to England.
The optimism about Morocco is based on them being a defensively-assured team, with two outstanding players – winger Hakim Ziyech and attacking full-back Hakimi – who are a threat on the break.
Both the players were key to Morocco becoming the only country from outside Europe and South America to reach the quarter-finals at this World Cup.
With Spain out, Morocco join an elite group in the last eight and will want to repeat their giant-slaying act against Portugal next in the quarters.
Morocco are the fourth African team to reach that stage after Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010. None of those three made it further.
You’d have to be some kind of prophet, or a very wealthy gambler, to predict the make-up of the World Cup’s last four.
4. Stylish, swaggering Portugal
What makes a great game? Goals. Especially if it’s a fairytale hattrick by a 21-year-old and another by a grand-daddy of football in Portugal’s brutal 6-1 demolition of Switzerland.
Goncalo Ramos, who had only played 36 minutes of international football, and replaced Cristiano Ronaldo, scored within 17 minutes.
Centre-back Pepe, 39, scored the second in the 33rd minute followed by Raphael Guerreiro (55’) and Rafael Leao (90’+2), each goal crackers in their own way.
But it was the young kid Ramos who took the headlines, and deservedly so. He set his team on the warpath with his first goal; by midway through the second 45 he had scored the first hattrick of Qatar 2022.
Ramos, who made his international debut last month, is the youngest player to net a World Cup hattrick since Hungarian Florian Albert in 1962.
Portugal played some exhilarating football to take apart a decent Switzerland side. It was a performance that started off well, got better in the middle, and by the end was barely believable.
They will now play Morocco, with France or England waiting in the semi-final if they get through. On current form, they could win the whole thing.
5. This tournament is purring now
The quarter-final line-up (Malaysian time)
Friday
Croatia v Brazil (11pm)
Saturday
Netherlands v Argentina (3am)
Morocco v Portugal (11pm)
Sunday
England v France (3am)
Two days without World Cup football? Weep!