DOHA – Youssef En-Nesyri‘s first half goal gave Morocco a suspenseful 1-0 victory over Portugal on Saturday at Al Thumama Stadium, making it the first Arab country to advance to the World Cup semifinals.
The Atlas Lions, with a resolute second half, added Portugal to their list of European victims.
Cristiano Ronaldo likely played his final World Cup game following an ineffective second-half substitute cameo in which he failed to score his first knockout-round goal of the competition.
En-header Nesyri’s gave Morocco the lead in the 42nd minute as they made a remarkable late-game charge.
After the break, Portugal applied more pressure, but an injured Morocco, playing without three of their four first-choice defenders after captain Romain Saiss was substituted, managed to hold on despite being reduced to 10 men in extra time.
Although Portugal struggled to generate many clear-cut chances as they lost a World Cup quarterfinal for the first time, the resolute Arabs surely received some assistance from the partisan crowd in pulling off the victory.
The Euro 2016 champions were already in trouble when coach Fernando Santos brought on Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo early in the second half but to no avail.
But after shocking Belgium and Spain on penalties in Qatar, it was another famous day for Morocco.
