Morocco 1-0 Portugal: Regragui and staff celebrate historic win
Morocco made history on Saturday as the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup when they beat Portugal 1-0 to continue their sparkling run in Qatar.
Youssef En-Nesyri scored the only goal of the game when he rose highest to head the ball into the net just minutes before half-time as Morocco’s defense again kept a clean sheet.
The Atlas Lions have been one of the stories of the tournament, holding semi-finalists Croatia to a draw in the group stage and beating Belgium, Spain and now Portugal en route to the semi-finals.
Morocco fans celebrate after the team’s victory during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 quarter-final match between Morocco and Portugal at Al Thumama Stadium on December 10, 2022 in Doha, Qatar.
Morocco’s World Cup ecstasy shared by Africa and the Arab world
“Before, only Moroccans supported us, now it’s Africans and Arabs,” manager Walid Regragui said before the quarter-finals, pointing to the energetic atmosphere that accompanied his team at every game.
And cheers, drums and whistles echoed through the Al Thumama Stadium on Saturday as if almost the entire continent and region were inside, witnessing their team make history.
Portugal’s defeat marked the end of what is likely to be Cristiano Ronaldo’s last World Cup as even he failed to make a dent in Morocco’s defense and was left walking down the tunnel in tears after the final whistle.
Meanwhile, the Atlas Lions shot Regragui into the air in their now-characteristic victory celebrations.
The last time these two teams met at the 2018 World Cup, Ronaldo scored the only goal of the match. This time around Ronaldo, he started on the bench for the second game in a row.
Both teams started brightly, with Portugal dominating possession but unable to break down Morocco’s well-organised defence, which conceded just one goal during Qatar 2022.
João Félix’s two tries offered Portugal’s only real threat in the opening 30 minutes – the first, a powerful and accurate header that forced goalkeeper Yassine “Bono” Bounou into action, and the second, a strike that bounced off two players and bounced wildly but landed on the top network side.
Instead, it was Morocco who came forward three minutes before half-time when Yahia Attiyat-Allah floated the ball perfectly into the box and En-Nesyri rose highest, well above goalkeepers Diogo Costa and Rúben Dias, to direct it into the net.
Ronaldo entered the fray just after the break in his 196th international appearance to become the joint most capped male player of all time.
But even he failed to stamp his authority on the game as Portugal remained stranded outside the box for most of the second half, held by a defiant Moroccan defence.
All the shots that got past the front line of defense were matched by Bounou, who plucked Bruno Fernandes’ powerful strike out of the air and minutes later he tipped Felix’s effort over the bar with an outstretched hand.
As regulation time ticked into eight minutes of stoppage time, Ronaldo also had a chance to equalise, but his low shot was again saved by Bounou.
As the game broke open in the closing minutes, coaches, support staff and players from both sides were running tensely behind the sidelines.
Walid Cheddira was red-carded for two yellow cards in as many minutes, leaving his side to defend their slender lead with just 10 men for the final six minutes.
Zakaria Aboukhlal broke free on the counter-attack and just rounded Costa to seal victory for Morocco, but he couldn’t do it, while Pepe’s header went wide for Portugal in front of goal.
