The third quarter-final match took place on Saturday in the FIFA World Cup 2022 season, in which world saw an exciting battle between Cristiano Ronaldo‘s team Portugal and Morocco. Morocco has entered the semi-finals by winning the match 1-0 in a spectacular fashion.
FIFA World Cup Portugal vs Morocco: The third quarter-final match was played on Saturday (December 10) in the FIFA World Cup 2022 season being hosted by Qatar. In the match, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and Morocco team were face to face. The match was very exciting, in which Morocco won 1-0 in a spectacular fashion.
With this victory, Morocco has entered the semi-finals. Now he will face the winner of the fourth quarter final, France. Defending champions France beat England 2-1 in their quarter-finals.
Morocco dominated the first half of the match
In the match, there was a tough competition between Portugal and Morocco from the beginning. Be it ball possession or goal attempts, in every case both the teams seemed to dominate each other. But the first goal of the match was scored by Youssef En-Nesyri in the 42nd minute. This goal was assisted by Yahya Atiat-Allah. Morocco won the match on the basis of this goal.
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Portugal vs Morocco Highlights
Morocco created history in the World Cup
With this victory, Morocco has registered its name in history with golden letters. It has become the first African team in the history of the Football World Cup to reach the semi-finals. Earlier, Cameroon had reached the quarter-finals in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010, but none of these teams could progress further. While the Portugal team has reached the top-4 only twice (1966, 2006). The dream of reaching for the third time has been shattered.
Portugal entered the field without Ronaldo
Portugal’s team landed in this match without star player Ronaldo. Ronaldo was not given a place in the starting-11 for the second consecutive match. Although Ronaldo was called on the field in the 52nd minute. He came to the field as a substitute in place of Ruben Neves, but could not show any special feat.
With landing in this match, Ronaldo has made a big record in his name. He equaled the record of playing the most 196 international matches. Now Ronaldo has come on par with Kuwait’s Bader Al Mutawa in the case of this record.
Match Stats
| Morocco | Portugal | |
| 9 | Shots | 12 |
| 3 | Shots on target | 3 |
| 26% | Possession | 74% |
| 247 | Passes | 663 |
| 71% | Pass accuracy | 85% |
| 15 | Fouls | 9 |
| 1 | Yellow cards | 1 |
| 1 | Red cards | 0 |
| 3 | Corners | 9 |
| 2 | Offsides | 2 |
Starting-11 of Portugal vs Morocco match
Morocco squad: Yassin Bounou, Romain Saiss (captain), Ashraf Hakimi, Sofiane Amrabat, Jawad El Yamik, Yahya Atiat-Allah, Azzedine Ounahi, Salim Amla, Youssef N Nesri, Hakim Ziyech and Sofiane Boufal.
Portugal squad: Diego Costa (goalkeeper), Pepe (captain), Gonzalo Ramos, Diogo Dalot, Bruno Fernandes, Ruben Dias, Rafael Guerrero, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Neves, Otavio and Joao Felix.
