Morocco became the first African side to reach the semifinal of the FIFA World Cup as they continued their magical run in the tournament by adding Portugal to the list of teams they have upset at Al Thumama Stadium.
Youssef En-Nesyri scored the only goal of the game in the first half before the Atlas Lions dug in to keep out Portugal’s high-powered attack for the rest of the match.
This was the first time in their history that Portgual had been eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Portugal decided to sit Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench once again keeping faith with most of the lineup which delivered them an easy win in the previous round.
The match itself panned out the way everyone expected with Portugal taking the initiative and Morocco waiting patiently for a counterattack opportunity. After a tame opening 42 minutes, the game suddenly came alive when En-Nesyri put a towering header past Diogo Costa with the goalkeeper misjudging the cross to leave the goal open.
Portugal almost hit back immediately when Bruno Fernandes’ instinctive effort hit the crossbar but fell to safety.
Fernando Santos played his trump card in the 51st minute, sending on Ronaldo but the star forward failed to make much impact on the game.
Yassine Bounou had to make a flying save to deny Joao Felix in the 83rd minute but had a relatively comfortable afternoon otherwise.
Morocco then suffered a late scare as Walid Cheddira was sent off for two quick yellow cards but his side held on for a momentous win.
After wins over Belgium and Spain already in the bank, Morocco beating Portugal in the World Cup quarterfinal is not as big of a surprise as many may think.
They will play France in the semifinal on December 15th.
