Morocco overcame Portugal 1-0 to move to the FIFA World Cup semifinals as the first African country.
In the first half of Youssef En On Saturday at Al Thumama Stadium, Nesyri’s strike delivered Morocco a thrilling 1-0 victory over Portugal. It not only gave Morocco a win but earned them the first African nation to progress to the World Cup semifinals.
However, The Atlas Lions was the first Arab team to make it to the last four. It potentially added Portugal to their list of European victims with a focused second-half effort.
One of the moments that hit the football fans was Cristiano Ronaldo’s participation in this world cup as Cristiano Ronaldo likely played his last World Cup game after an unsuccessful appearance as a substitute in the second half and failed to score his first knockout round goal ever.
Not only this but En’s header In the 42nd minute, Nesyri gave Morocco the lead as they staged an incredible comeback. It added more value to the performance of Morocco.
Therefore, after the interval, Portugal applied more pressure. However, injured Morocco, playing without three of their four first-choice defenders after captain Romain Saiss was substituted, still managed to hold on. Not to forget despite being reduced to 10 men in extra time.
Nonetheless, to the circumstances, Youssef En-Nesyri outjumped Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Costa to poke the game-winning goal for Morocco in the first half.
The Moroccan squad surpassed Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002), and Ghana to go to the semifinals of the biggest football competition in the world (2010).