Morocco vs Portugal : The World Cup of upsets and adding new shocks every day. After favorites Brazil crashed out of the tournament on Friday, it was Cristiano Ronaldo’s turn to crash out for Portugal as they suffered a 0-1 defeat at the hands of Morocco on Saturday.
Morocco vs Portugal Highlights: Morocco reach historic semi-finals, Portugal crashes out of World Cup 2022
A historic pride of Atlas Lions 🦁@EnMaroc | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/MU9FMIRaHo
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 10, 2022
Morocco lived up to their dream goal in Qatar and became the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup with the win.
Youssef En-Nesyri’s superb header in the 42nd minute was enough for the North African side to send former European champions Portugal out of the quadrangular tournament.
Portugal once again started with Ronaldo on the bench, but brought him on early in the second half after trailing 0–1 at the half-time break. But a resilient Moroccan defended it all to hold a slim lead. Morocco fell behind in stoppage time when Walid Chedira was sent off after picking up two yellow cards in a minute, but with less than five minutes left in the match, Portugal failed to capitalize on the situation.
Morocco will face defending champions France, who beat England 2-1 in the last quarter-final on Thursday.
MOROCCO ARE HEADING TO THE SEMI-FINALS! 🇲🇦@adidasfootball | #FIFAWorldCup
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 10, 2022
En-Nesyri leapt high in the air to score the only goal of the game just before half-time at the Al-Thama Stadium in a huge blow against the established order of football.
The result will be celebrated widely across Africa and the Arabic-speaking Middle East, eager to see one of their teams compete for football’s biggest prize.
Youssef En-Nesyri: Rocketman 🚀🇲🇦 pic.twitter.com/EHuCnFFqEf
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 10, 2022
Morocco vs Portugal Match Highlights : FIFA World cup 2022
Morocco had already defeated Belgium and Spain in the tournament, but a win against Portugal was even more important.
It was one of Morocco’s best performances in Qatar, full of resolute defense and counter-attacking despite missing key defender Nayef Aguerd and his four back-mates and captain Romain Saiss due to injury before the match. A collection of world stars put away. the other half
Portugal will see it as a missed opportunity against the lowest-ranked team in the tournament and a disappointing performance from 37-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo.
Morocco, once again booed by the majority of the 44,198-strong crowd, said they were tired after their last-16 success against Spain and immediately went into defensive mode as Portugal went on the attack.
A fourth-minute free-kick for Portugal entered the penalty area from the right, and Joao Felix’s diving header drew a fine save from Yassine Bounou.
But supplies soon dried up thereafter as Morocco blocked the routes and frustrated the Portuguese invaders.
Joao Felix had two more chances in the first half but the Moroccan regained confidence and found sudden spring in his stride, often breaking into counter-attacks.
Left-back Yahya Attiat-Allah made several quick runs in the 35th minute, setting up a good chance for Selim Amallah, who failed to capitalize.
But seven minutes later, a high ball from a full-back in the Portuguese box was met by a powerful header from En-Nesyri, who beat both goalkeeper Diego Costa and defender Ruben Dias to give Morocco the lead.
The Portuguese’s frustration was evident as they heckled Argentine referee Facundo Tello at the end of the first half, complaining that several appeals for penalties had been turned down.
Morocco came close to a second goal four minutes into the second half when Jawad El Yamiq touched down Hakim Ziyech’s in-swinging free-kick, but Costa was in place this time to block.
Ronaldo’s came to the ground in the 51st minute was booed, but he injected new energy into a Portugal team that was missing hat-trick hero Goncalo Ramos from their 6-1 victory over Switzerland in the previous round. Scored a header in the 58th minute.
Bruno Fernandes hit the top of the crossbar five minutes later as Portugal attacked more and Morocco settled deep. Buono again saved from João Félix with seven minutes remaining.
Walid Chedira of Morocco was sent off in stoppage time after receiving two consecutive yellow cards.
But his side, in the joy of their overwhelming support, held on for a famous victory.
