Qatar 2022: Morocco ride on Portugal to secure historic, semi-final

The Atlas Lions of Morocco continued their fairy tale run in the 2022 World Cup on Saturday as they beat Portugal 1-0 to qualify for the semi-final stage of the on-going 2022 World Cup after a thrilling encounter at the Al Thumama Stadium.

Youssef En-Yesri’s towering header in the 42nd minute proved to be the tie-breaker as Morocco became the first African team ever to qualify for the semi-final of the competition.

Though Cristiano Ronaldo was brought in early in the second half, the 37-year-old was unable to rescue his team as his quest for the elusive World Cup trophy went up in flames yet again even though he achieved another record of the most-capped player

Portugal and Morocco enjoyed contrasting fortunes going into Saturday’s semi-final contest, with the former enjoying a thumping 6-1 win over Switzerland and the Lions squeezing through with a penalty shootout win over Spain.

It was the Portuguese who started on the front foot, coming close to breaking the deadlock just five minutes into the game.

A terrific ball in from the right flank was headed on target by Joao Felix, but Moroccan keeper Bono was equal to the task denying Portugal an early lead.

Morocco were quick to provide an instant response with a swift counter-attack with Hakim Ziyech’s delivering a cross to leaping En-Nesyri, who couldn’t keep the ball on target.

While Portugal dominated the possession, Morocco were contended with sitting back and launching occasional counterattacks.

As the clock ticked down in the first half, Morocco’s moment of magic came in the 42nd minute when En-Nesyri soared into the air, high above Ruben Dias, to head past Costa, who came out and was in no-man’s-land.

Despite the red card that made Morocco played better part of the second half with ten men, the star-studded Portuguese  team could not unlock the Moroccan defence, even after about 12 minutes added time.