Morocco became the first African nation in history to qualify for the World Cup semi-final by defeating Portugal 1-0 at Al-Thumama Stadium on Saturday night.
Youssef En-Nesyri scored a brilliant header in the 42nd minute from Yahia Attiyat Allah’s looping cross from the left wing to give Morocco the lead.
The African team fell to ten men in stoppage time but held on and etched their name in the history books to reach the quarter-finals in Qatar.
Cristiano Ronaldo was named as a substitute once again following Portugal’s 6-1 win over Switzerland in the round of 16 and it was Portugal who started the better of the two teams on the night.
La Seleccao seemed poised in possession, keeping their opponents at bay, but rarely opened up a highly organized Moroccan defensive line.
The African team sat deep soaking up the pressure, but whenever they had the ball they would run fast into the Portugal penalty area dragging opposing defenders out of position to create space and link crosses from either flank to test Diogo Costa in goal.
His approach worked as En-Nesyri soared higher with a great leap to head in after Costa’s hesitation to collect the ball as the hapless goalkeeper watched his team fall behind into the night.
Morocco survives late surge from Portugal
However, Portugal started better than both teams after the break. However, Morocco could have easily doubled their lead in the 49th minute if Costa had not disrupted Jawad El Yamiq at point-blank range after Hakim Ziyech’s cross from the right flank.
Both Ronaldo and Joao Cancelo came on from the bench in the 51st minute to add more attacking bite to the line-up, but the European team was repeatedly thwarted by Yassine Bounou in the Moroccan goal.
The 31-year-old made three crucial saves, including one by Ronaldo in the closing stages to record another clean sheet. Bounou has now conceded just once in the tournament, the own goal against Canada in the group stage of the competition.
Moroccan skipper Roman Saiss had to be stretchered off just before the hour mark and it looks like his World Cup could be over.
Walid Cheddira was sent off for a second yellow card in added time for a slight foul on Joao Félix and the Portuguese should have equalized in the closing stages if Pepe hadn’t missed his header with the goal at his mercy.
In the end, Fernando Santos’s side were unable to assert their numerical advantage as Morocco held on for a memorable victory. This was also arguably Ronaldo’s last World Cup game, as the 37-year-old was seen crying in the tunnel after the defeat.
Photo credit: IMAGO / Pro Shots
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