Spain forward Alvaro Morata has been dropped to the substitutes' bench for the World Cup last-16 tie with Morocco.

During the group stages, Morata emerged as one of the players of the tournament, scoring in each of the three games despite having accumulated just 126 minutes of football.

However, Luis Enrique has decided to drop the Atletico Madrid player, making a total of five alterations from the team which lost to Japan.

Cesar Azpilicueta, Pau Torres, Alex Balde and Nico Williams are also not included from the opening whistle, with Marcos Llorente and Jordi Alba occupying the full-back roles.

Ayemric Laporte has been restored to the middle of the backline, while Ferran Torres and Marco Asensio have been given the nod in the final third.

Meanwhile, Morocco boss Walid Regragui has kept changes down to a minimum, making just the one from the 2-1 triumph over Canada.

Selim Amallah has been restored to the central-midfield three, with Abdelhamid Sabiri the player to miss out.

Morocco: Bounou; Hakimi, Aguerd, Saiss, Mazraoui; Ounahi, Amrabat, Amallah; Ziyech, En-Nesyri, Boufal

Spain: Simon; Llorente, Rodri, Laporte, Alba; Gavi, Busquets, Pedri; Torres, Asensio, Olmo

Written by
Darren Plant