DOHA
\nMorocco became the first African nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals as Youssef En-Nesyri\u2019s first-half goal sealed a tense 1-0 victory over Portugal on Saturday at Al Thumama Stadium.
\nThe Atlas Lions, also the first Arab team to make the last four, added Portugal to their list of European scalps with a resolute second-half performance.
\nCristiano Ronaldo has likely played his last World Cup match after making an ineffectual appearance as a second-half substitute, failing to score his first knockout-phase goal at the tournament.
\nPortugal\u2019s Cristiano Ronaldo reacts at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Quarter Final in Al Thumama Stadium, Doha, Qatar, Dec 10. \u2013 Reuters
\nMorocco took a 42nd-minute lead through En-Nesyri\u2019s header as they came on strong late in the first period.
\nPortugal piled on the pressure after the break but an injury-hit Morocco, without three of their four first-choice defenders once skipper Romain Saiss was forced off, hung on despite being reduced to 10 men in added time.
\nThe partisan crowd undoubtedly helped the North Africans over the line, although Portugal struggled to create many clear-cut chances as they lost a World Cup quarter-final for the first time.
\nFive-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner Ronaldo was sent on early in the second half by coach Fernando Santos but could not rescue the Euro 2016 winners.
\nInstead, it was another famous day for Morocco, after previous upset wins over Belgium and Spain, on penalties, in Qatar.
\nWalid Regragui\u2019s men will face England or holders France in the semi-finals at Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday.
\nMorocco will believe they can topple either of those sides, having still only conceded once at this World Cup. Portugal enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening half-hour, but Joao Felix\u2019s fifth-minute diving header, saved by goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, was the closest either side came to an early goal.
\nMorocco always looked dangerous, though, and Selim Amallah ballooned a shot over and Sofiane Boufal curled straight at Diogo Costa for the Africans.
\nIt was no surprise when Morocco did forge ahead shortly before the interval.
\nPortuguese goalkeeper Costa came for a cross from left-back Yahya Attiat-Allah that he was never going to get to and Sevilla striker En-Nesyri did the rest with a towering header. Portugal almost equalised seconds later in spectacular fashion when Bruno Fernandes crashed a bouncing ball from the right-hand side of the box against the crossbar.
\nA crazy few minutes before half-time also saw Attiat-Allah, only playing in place of the injured Noussair Mazraoui, blaze wide after another rapid counter.
\nPortugal\u2019s players were still appealing for a penalty after Fernandes threw himself to the ground under pressure from Achraf Hakimi at the other end.
\nMorocco almost doubled their advantage four minutes after the restart as Costa just about managed to prevent Hakim Ziyech\u2019s free-kick from the right from flying all the way in.
\nSantos wasted little time in summoning for his captain, sending on Ronaldo and Joao Cancelo in the 51st minute. Morocco, already without injured defenders Mazraoui and Nayef Aguerd, were dealt another blow when Saiss was stretchered off.
\nPortugal started to lay siege to the opposition goal and Fernandes came close to levelling again when he fired narrowly over from the edge of the box.
\nMorocco were largely keeping Portugal at bay, but Bounou had to be at his best to tip over Felix\u2019s drive with eight minutes remaining.
\nEight minutes of injury time were largely spent with Portugal camped in the Morocco half and Ronaldo almost had his moment when his low strike was kept out by Bounou.
\nMorocco substitute Walid Cheddira was harshly sent off for a second yellow card in the space of two minutes.
\nZakaria Aboukhlal should have put the game to bed only to dink straight at Costa when clean through.
\nBut his team somehow held onto their lead to write their names in the history books as Pepe headed wide from close range right at the death.
\nMorocco extended their dream run at the World Cup on Saturday as they out-thought and out-fought Portugal in a 1-0 win to become the first-ever African country to reach the semi-finals thanks to a towering headed goal from Youssef En-Nesyri.
\nIn the 42nd minute, En-Nesyri leapt above the Portugal defenders to meet a Yahya Attiat-Allah cross, getting just enough of his head to the ball to tip it past goalkeeper Diogo Costa, who misread its flight and crashed into his own defender.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DOHA Morocco became the first African nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals as Youssef En-Nesyri\u2019s first-half goal sealed a tense 1-0 victory over Portugal on Saturday at Al Thumama Stadium. The Atlas Lions, also the first Arab team to make the last four, added Portugal to their list of European scalps with a resolute […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300770,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-300751","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n