Morocco made history once again to become the first African country to reach a World Cup semi-final at the expense of Portugal thanks to Youssef En-Nesyri’s header.
Action: After winning 6-1 against Switzerland in the round of 16 it wasn’t too surprising to see Fernando Santos stick to his guns with hat-trick hero Gonçalo Ramos starting again ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.
But it was another attacker who almost opened the scoring for Portugal after just four minutes when João Félix had a header saved from close range by Yassine Bono.
Portugal saw much of the ball in the early part of the game but Morocco slowly grew into it as the half went on, eventually opening the scoring in the 42nd minute.
A cross from Yahia Attiyat-Allah from the left should have been claimed by Diogo Costa but instead, Youssef En-Nesyri snuck in first and headed into the goal with a Ronaldo-esque leap to put Morocco ahead.
Bruno Fernandes almost equalised just a few minutes later with a superb effort from an acute angle that bounced off the bar.
Santos waited just five minutes into the second period to bring on Cristiano Ronaldo, but the free agent wasn’t able to make his mark on the game.
Instead, Morocco continued to put up a superb defensive display despite Romain Saïss being forced off in the 58th minute. Hoalid Regragui’s team were compact at the back and –when they were occasionally breached – backed up by an in-form goalkeeper.
João Félix forced the Sevilla shot-stopper into another great save 83 minutes into the game as Portugal tried to break down the defence. Félix’s effort that looked destined for the top corner was palmed over the bar by Bono.
Morocco were reduced to ten men in the eight minutes of stoppage time when substitute Walid Cheddira received his second yellow card.
Zakaria Aboukhlal had the chance to seal the win late on when he was clean through on goal but fluffed his lines. As did Pepe when he could have levelled things with a close-range header but his effort went agonisingly wide.
But Portugal eventually ran out of time and Morocco’s rearguard once again held out to seal a monumental win.
Reaction: Portugal boss Fernando Santos on whether he will still be in the role: “Tomorrow I will fly to Lisbon and we will discuss with the president about my future, as always."
Magic Moment: Bono's superb save to stop João Félix's curling effort summed up the goalkeeper's sensational World Cup thus far.
Man of the Match: Take your pick of any Morocco player and you can make a case for them being Man of the Match. We'll give to Real Valladolid defender Jawad El Yamiq who made a remarkable 10 clearances in total.
xG: Morocco (1.43) 1-0 (1.49) Portugal
Stat of the Day: He didn't have a great evening but Cristiano Ronaldo now ties Bader Al-Mutawa of Kuwait for the most caps in men's international football history as recognised by FIFA with 196.
🇲🇦 Walid Regragui has now won the Botola Pro (Moroccan League), CAF Champions League, and made history by leading an African team to the #FIFAWorldCup semi final.
— Owuraku Ampofo (@_owurakuampofo) December 10, 2022
He took over the Morocco national team in August. #TeamMorocco pic.twitter.com/FkbCYYqmur
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Youssef En-Nesyri 42' |