The last matchday of the TOP16 phase in the World Cup is here! The first game is going to be between Morocco and Spain. In the group stage, Morocco played very well. In the first game of the tournament, Morocco drew against Croatia, in the following game they beat Belgium, and in the last game, the Africans were able to beat Canada. Spain was phenomenal in the opening game as they crushed Costa Rica by 7:0. The Spaniards lost the lead against Germany and drew the game but then they lost to Japan and for a few minutes in the last matchday Spain was in the 3rd position at standings.

In this game, I'm predicting that Morocco won't lose with more than one goal difference. Morocco’s success so far has been built on their robust defense which conceded just one goal across the group stage, a record no side in the competition could better ahead of the knockouts. That extended Morocco’s record of keeping a clean sheet in six of their last seven matches, which perhaps gives them a platform to spring another upset against Spain.

Spain completed 2489 passes in their group-stage campaign, their most at a single tournament on record (since 1966), while their tally of 969 passes against Japan was a record for a losing team at the tournament. During the group tournament, Spain created an xG of 5.19 while Morocco had 2.01. If we take out Spain's xG against Costa Rica which was 3.53, we get an xG of 1.66. For Spain, the xGA was 2.7 but for Morocco, it was 2.8.

The last meeting between both teams was four years ago in Russia during the World Cup group stage. That game ended with a draw as both teams scored two goals. Spain went on to be eliminated at the last-16 stage by Russia in that tournament, and has not actually progressed into the quarter-finals since 2010 - the year they claimed their only World Cup crown!

Of course, there's no doubt that Spain is a favorite here. At the same time, Morocco didn't earn a place in the knockout stage because of luck like that was with Poland. They have played very strong and confidently and they won't fear Spain. Many maybe think that Spain is a very experienced team but they are the 4th youngest team in the tournament while Morocco is 5th. It wouldn't be surprising if both teams will score and the game will go into extra time.

本译文使用有道机器翻译，仅供参考：

世界杯TOP16阶段的最后一场比赛日到了!第一场比赛将在摩洛哥和西班牙之间进行。在小组赛中，摩洛哥发挥出色。在比赛的第一场比赛中，摩洛哥战平了克罗地亚，在接下来的一场比赛中他们击败了比利时，在最后一场比赛中，非洲人击败了加拿大。西班牙在首场比赛中表现非凡，以7:0大胜哥斯达黎加。西班牙人在与德国的比赛中失去了领先优势，并打平了比赛，但随后他们输给了日本，在最后一场比赛日的几分钟里，西班牙在积分榜上排名第三。

在这场比赛中，我预测摩洛哥不会输，因为他们有超过1个净胜球。迄今为止，摩洛哥队的成功建立在他们强大的防守上，他们在小组赛中只丢了一个球，这一纪录在淘汰赛之前是无人能及的。这延续了摩洛哥近7场比赛中6场零封对手的纪录，这或许给了他们在对阵西班牙时再次翻盘的机会。

西班牙队在小组赛中完成了2489次传球，这是他们自1966年以来在单届赛事中传球最多的一次，而他们在对阵日本队时的969次传球则创下了小组赛失利球队的纪录。在小组赛期间，西班牙创造了5.19的xG，摩洛哥创造了2.01的xG。如果我们剔除西班牙对哥斯达黎加的xG为3.53，我们得到的xG为1.66。西班牙的xGA值为2.7，而摩洛哥的xGA值为2.8。

两队上一次交锋是四年前在俄罗斯世界杯小组赛阶段。那场比赛以平局结束，两队都进了两球。西班牙队在16强中被俄罗斯淘汰，自2010年以来，他们从未真正进入过1 / 4决赛——这是他们唯一一次获得世界杯冠军!

当然，毫无疑问，西班牙是最受欢迎的。与此同时，摩洛哥没有获得淘汰赛的席位，是因为像波兰那样的运气。他们踢得非常强大和自信，他们不会害怕西班牙。许多人可能认为西班牙是一支非常有经验的球队，但他们是比赛中第4年轻的球队，而摩洛哥是第5。如果两队都得分，比赛将进入加时赛，这并不奇怪。