Morocco extended their fairytale run to sweep into the semi-finals of the World Cup after edging past Portugal 1-0 in the third quarter-final at Al Thumama Stadium, Doha today.
This is the first time in history that an African or Arab country made it into the last-four of the biggest show on earth.
Striker Youssef En-Nesyri netted a towering header following a long cross of full-back Attia Allah to put Morocco ahead in the 42nd minute of the game.
Cristiano Ronaldo came off the bench six minutes after the break in a bid to rescue his side but in no vein.
Morocco reduced to ten-man three minutes into the stoppage time when Walid Cheddira was booked for second time but the scoreline remained unchanged during the final whistle.
Morocco will face either England or France in the second semi-finals Thursday.
Team News
Portugal again left captain Cristiano Ronaldo out of their starting line-up, keeping hat-trick hero Goncalo Ramos in the team for Saturday's World Cup quarter-final against Morocco.
Portugal's all-time leading goal scorer with 118 goals in 195 appearances, Ronaldo was benched for Tuesday's 6-1 win over Switzerland in the last 16 where the 21-year-old Ramos scored three in only his fourth appearance.
Ronaldo, 37, was upset at being left out by coach Fernando Santos on the eve of the game, and Portugal's football federation then had to deny reports that their skipper had threatened to leave the tournament.
Santos made one change on Saturday after that convincing win, with Ruben Neves in for William Carvalho, while his Morocco counterpart Walid Regragui was forced to shuffle his defence after Nayef Aguerd and Noussair Mazraoui were ruled out by injury.
The absence of both is a major blow, with Yahia Attiat Allah in at left back for Mazraoui and Jawad El Yamiq replacing Aguerd.
There had also been concern over the fitness of captain Romain Saiss and midfielder Sofyan Amrabat, but both will play.
Teams:
Morocco: Yassine Bounou, Achraf Hakimi, Romain Saiss, Jawad El Yamiq, Yahya Attiat-Allah, Sofyan Amrabat, Selim Amallah, Azzedine Ounahi, Hakim Ziyech, Soufiane Boufal, Youssef En-Nesyri
Portugal: Diogo Costa, Diogo Dalot, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Raphael Guerreiro, Bruno Fernandes, Otavio, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Neves, Joao Felix, Goncalo Ramos
