The Morocco–Spain football rivalry is a highly competitive sports rivalry that exists between the national football teams of the two countries, as well as their respective sets of fans. Unique among other rivalries, the rivalry between Morocco and Spain has been characterised by their allegiances to different confederations, with Morocco belongs to Africa while Spain belongs to Europe.[1] However, Morocco and Spain are close neighbours, having been separated only by the Strait of Gibraltar and Spain's autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla lie in North Africa, in particular to Morocco.
History
Due to their proximity, relations between Morocco and Spain have very long and complicated chapters, which saw Spain and Morocco once parts of the Roman Empire. Morocco, as the staging point of many indigenous Islamised dynasties, would then conquer Spain as part of Al-Andalus, under the reign of the Umayyad Caliphate, Almoravid dynasty and Almohad Caliphate, both left significant cultural landmarks in Spain.[2] The rise of Catholic powers in the north enabled the Reconquista, slowly swallowed Muslim-dominated territories before annexing the Emirate of Granada in 1492, known as the Granada War.[3] Muslims and Jews were expelled from Spain in the aftermath of the war, and the two maintained complicated relations.
Due to deeply intertwined and complex historical relations, Morocco and Spain have developed a long-standing rivalry. However, because they are affiliated to different confederations, Morocco and Spain often do not have much opportunities to face each other. The two first faced each other at the 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification, where Spain triumphed in both matches in highly tense and ferocious atmospheres, 1–0 away in Casablanca and 3–2 home in Madrid to qualify for the 1962 FIFA World Cup in Chile.[9]
It took over 57 years since the two first met each other to finally play again, this time in group B of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where an already-eliminated Morocco stunned Spain with a fierce performance, holding Spain to a 2–2 draw, with Spain secured their first place at the dying minutes in a match filled with controversies surrounding VAR.[10][11] Just four years later, in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Morocco and Spain would again clash at the World Cup, this time at the round of 16; Spain largely dominated but failed to penetrate against a highly organised Moroccan defence, before going down with a 3–0 defeat on penalties to their North African rival.[12]
All four previous meetings between the two nations have been competitive, and none happened in a friendly. Matches between two national teams often resulted in heated and unfriendly sentiment between the two sections of supporters due to deeply intertwined, connected and often troubled historical tie.[1][13][11]
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