- Morocco defeated Spain to reach quarter-finals
- They will face Portugal in the last eight
- Regragui speaks on his selection criteria
WHAT HAPPENED? The Atlas Lions advanced to the quarter-finals of the global competition in Qatar after defeating Spain 3-0 on penalties on Tuesday.
Speaking after the game, the 47-year-old Regragui defended his selection criteria, insisting his decision to stick with European-born representatives had started to produce fruits for the North African side.
WHAT DID HE SAY? "I fought this a lot of times. Before this World Cup we had a lot of problems about guys born in Morocco and Europe," he told reporters as quoted by Sports Mole.
"Sometimes people, including some journalists in this room, said these guys don't love Morocco, why not play with the guys born in Morocco?
"We showed to the world that every Moroccan is Moroccan, when he comes with the national team he wants to die, wants to fight.
"I was born in France but nobody can take my heart from my country. My players give 100 per cent. Some players were born in Germany, some in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, France and every country has a football culture. You make this milkshake with that and get to the quarter-finals."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Morocco are the only African nation remaining at the competition in the Gulf nation.
Ghana, Tunisia and Cameroon were knocked out at the group stage, while Senegal reached the Round of 16 where they suffered a 3-0 defeat against England to exit the stage.
WHAT NEXT FOR MOROCCO? The Atlas Lions will face Portugal in the quarter-finals at Al Thumama Stadium on Saturday.
