Morocco became the first African country to reach the World Cup semi-finals with a 1-0 victory over Portugal on Saturday at Al Thumama Stadium, thanks to Youssef En-first-half Nesyri’s goal.
Morocco has surpassed Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002), and Ghana (2010) as the only African teams to reach the quarter-finals. The Atlas Lions, the first Arab team to reach the quarterfinals, added Portugal to their list of European victims with a tenacious second-half performance.
Cristiano Ronaldo has most likely played his final World Cup match after coming on as a second-half substitute and failing to score his first knockout-phase goal of the tournament. Morocco took the lead in the 42nd minute thanks to En-header Nesyri’s as they came on strong late in the first period.
