Morocco defeats Portugal in the quarterfinals of the World Cup 2022

The historic moment on the field of Al Thumama came in the 42nd minute, when Yahia Attiyat Allah crossed from the left. In the penalty area, goalkeeper Diego Costa made a mistake when he missed the punch, and Youssef En-Nesyri pressed the face of Man City defender Ruben Dias to hit the roof of the Portuguese net.

This was En-Nesyri's third goal from the start of the tournament, making him the highest scoring Moroccan player at the World Cup. On the opposite side, Portugal is the team with the most errors leading to goals at the 2022 World Cup, also with three goals.

En-Nesyri's goal helped Morocco continue to make history, becoming the first African representative to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup. Before Qatar 2022, the best performance of African football in the World Cup was reaching the quarterfinals, belonging to Cameroon 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana 2010. In the semi-finals on December 14, Morocco will meet the winner of the England pair. - France.

Morocco's miracle comes thanks to pragmatic play and an incredibly solid defense. After Croatia, Belgium, Canada in the group stage and Spain in the 1/8 round, Portugal is the next team at the 2022 World Cup that cannot score against the army under Walid Regragui. Morocco has only received one goal since the beginning of the tournament, but it was an own goal by midfielder Nayef Aguerd in the 2-1 win over Canada.

Portugal only changed one position in the starting line-up compared to the match against Switzerland in the round of 16, but it is not in the position of a striker. Accordingly, coach Fernando Santos let Ruben Neves start instead of William Carvalho, while Goncalo Ramos continued to lead the attack.

Last match, Ronaldo entered the field from the 73rd minute when the game was arranged. But in the quarterfinals, the 37-year-old striker was introduced to the field from the 51st minute, along with Joao Cancelo, in the hope of helping Portugal reverse the situation. In the 90th minute, Ronaldo had a chance to be the hero, but his one-touch shot to the near corner lacked force and could not make Bono difficult. The only previous impression of CR7 was the wall phase for Felix to cut the left foot from the edge of the 16m50 area to the far corner, but Bono also flew to save Morocco.

Despite conceding a goal in the first half, Portugal was the better team with the opportunities all belonging to Joao Felix. In the 5th minute, Felix threatened Morocco with a close-range header that made Yassine Bounou struggle. In the 31st minute, Atletico's striker finished the outside of his right foot, the ball hit a Moroccan defender and then changed direction to close to the edge of the connection between the crossbar and the post. Eight minutes later, Felix continued to be ungrateful when he kicked one to hit the bar.

Bruno Fernandes also left an impression with the ball and then twisted his right foot from a tight angle to find the crossbar in the 44th minute. Meanwhile, Goncalo Ramos - the striker scored a hat-trick in the 6-1 win over Switzerland. in round 1/8 - lackluster competition. The camera lens continuously closes to Cristiano Ronaldo's face, even though he is only on the bench.

In the last minutes, Argentinian referee Facundo Tello became the focus of two controversial decisions. In the 44th minute, Achraf Hakimi pulled Raphael Guerreiro's shirt, then the impact from behind made Bruno Fernandes in the second minute of compensation, causing the Portuguese players to fall in the penalty area. But both times, Tello did not cut the whistle, and the VAR team did not participate. This is the reason why many Portuguese players are disgruntled, questioning the Argentinian black king referee after he cut the whistle at half-time.

In the second half, Portugal created suffocating pressure when controlling the ball more than 80%, but could not find a way into Bounou's goal. 59 minutes, Ramos had a chance to head in front of goal, but the ball went wide of the target. Then, it was Fernandes' turn to squander with a right-footed kick that sent the ball narrowly over the bar. Coach Santos also launched Vitinha, Rafael Leao and Ricardo Horta on the field to strengthen the attack, but could not make a difference.

In the third minute of compensation, striker Walid Cheddira received a second yellow card, turning into an indirect red card, helping Portugal raise hope. However, central defender Pepe has extinguished this hope with a header from the post with a distance of 5m.

Unable to find an equalizer, Portugal continued to miss the appointment with the first World Cup title in history. Fans were also disillusioned to witness the final of their dreams, with Ronaldo's Portugal vs Messi's Argentina at Lusail Stadium.