Thus, Morocco becomes the first African country to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup. The Atlas Lions will have a semi-final date with France, England fall in the other duel today.
In defeat, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo equaled the world record for most appearances for the men’s national team, a record he shares with Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutawa. He now has 196 after facing Morocco.
Ronaldo came on in the 51st minute, replacing midfielder Ruben Neves, when his team was already trailing 1-0.
Aware of the Moroccans’ defensive discipline, Portugal started by trying to press them high to win the ball back quickly and then went down to try and get their opponent out before being neatly attacked by Bruno Fernandes’ long game.
A plan that could have worked quickly if Joao Felix had been a little clearer (fifth). But Yassine Bounou, who then triumphed (74, 83) at the height of the Portuguese push in the second half, was martyred for that.
In the trap, Fernando Santos had no choice but to quickly bring in Ronaldo, while Goncalo Ramos, the scorer of a hat-trick against Switzerland, was transparent this time around.
The Portuguese can only blame themselves, because against the Moroccans who lost Romain Saïss (57th place) and logically suffered after all the efforts made so far, they had several positions to level the score. But when they did not come across a tenacious goalkeeper, Fernandez, who touched the crossbar after opening the scoring (43), he saw the frame go away (64).
However, the elimination of Walid Chedira (90 + 3) did not derail Morocco, which gave only one goal since the start of the World Cup. Sometimes he was on the verge of breaking down, even managing to pull off a fourth feat in five matches.
After this tragic scenario for Portugal, Ronaldo, who is facing increasing challenges within the Seleção, will now have the opportunity to decide whether to continue his career at the age of 37.
