Morocco scripted history on Saturday to become the first African nation to qualify for the last four of the World Cup after defeating Portugal 1-0 in the quarterfinal
Ronaldo had come to the field after fifty minutes but could not make a difference and left the pitch teary-eyed as the World Cup dreams of this 37-year-old were broken in pieces
The African nation staged a massive upset to knock Portugal out of the World Cup as they held onto their one-goal lead at halftime to book a maiden slot in the FIFA World Cup semifinals.
Morocco took the lead thanks to a stunning Nesyri header, and are only 45 minutes away from making history. Portugal had a couple of chances and Bruno Fernandes almost equalized in the dying minutes of the half but his kick hit the crossbar
Ronaldo, Portugal's most capped player and all-time leading scorer, was rested for their first knockout game against Switzerland on Tuesday, which they won 6-1, with his replacement Goncalo Ramos scoring a hat-trick. Ronaldo did make an appearance in the match when he was brought in as a lat
Morocco knocked out 2010 World Cup winners Spain, thrashing them 3-0 in a penalty shootout to storm into the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup at the Education City Stadium on Tuesday in a crucial round-of-16 clash
Morocco knocked out 2010 World Cup winners Spain, thrashing them 3-0 in a penalty shootout to storm into the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup at the Education City Stadium on Tuesday in a crucial round-of-16 clash
The last time these teams met was in the 2018 World Cup in the group stages where it ended in a 2-2 draw and a similar fierce battle ensued in the first half of the pre-quarterfinal here with both teams going all out for a place in the last-eight.
Following a 0-0 tie with Croatia, Belgium was eliminated from the group stage, placing third behind the Croatians and group winners Morocco. Belgium would have advanced to the round of 16 if they had won their last group encounter.
Morocco topped Group F with seven points in three matches and clinched a spot in the pre-quarters for the first time since 1986 by defeating already-eliminated Canada.
Croatia progressed to pre-quarters as finished second in the group with seven points in three matches, behind Morocco which defeated Canada 2-1 to top the group with seven points.