The results of the 2022 World Cup quarter-final match pitted Morocco against Portugal.
Portugal which is more favored to win dramatically must be defeated by Morocco with a score of 1-0.
The single winning goal for Morocco was scored by Youssef En-Neysri and brought Morocco through to the semifinals.
Morocco became the first African country team to advance to the semifinals of the World Cup.
In the first half Portugal immediately took the initiative to attack.
In the 30th minute, Portugal threatened the Moroccan goal through Joao Felix.
Joao Felix’s kick which hit Jawad El Yamiq still narrowly missed the Moroccan goal.
Morocco was able to score in the 42nd minute through Youssef En-Neysri’s header after receiving a pass from Attiat-Allah and changing the score to 1-0.
Portugal almost equalized through Bruno Fernandes, but his shot still hit the crossbar.
The 1-0 score lasted until the first half was over.
The second half of the game continued fiercely.
In the 52nd minute, Fernando Santos brought on Cristiano Ronaldo to replace Ruben Neves.
Portugal continued to attack in the remaining matches.
Ronaldo’s bait for Joao Felix was continued with a hard left-footed shot that aimed at the top corner of the Moroccan goal.
Unfortunately, Felix’s hard kick was pushed over by Bounou.
Almost all Moroccan players are in the defensive area.
This made it difficult for Portugal to penetrate the Moroccan defense.
The 1-0 score lasted until the second half was over.
With this result Portugal must be willing to be eliminated in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
Meanwhile, Morocco has the right to advance to the semifinals.
Fernando Santos, coach of the Portugal national team, admits that he does not regret leaving Cristiano Ronaldo even though they lost to Morocco in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo came off the bench in the 51st minute when Portugal were 1-0 down.
During the match against Switzerland in the round of 16, Ronaldo also started the game from the bench.
At that time Portugal won a landslide victory over Switzerland with a score of 6-1, that’s what made Fernando Santos maintain the same squad for the quarter-finals.
“I don’t think so, there are no regrets,” Fernando Santos was quoted as saying by espn.
“I think this is a team that played very well against Switzerland. Cristiano Ronaldo is a great player, he came when we thought it was necessary, so there are no regrets,” he continued.
“If we take the two people who are most disappointed are Cristiano Ronaldo and myself. Of course we are disappointed, but that is part of the job of coaches and players,” he continued.
Morocco managed to win through a goal scored by Youssef En-Nesyri in the first round.
Portugal conceded just three shots on target as they searched for an equaliser.
After that Bruno Fernandes was very critical of the leadership of the Argentine referee Facundo Tello.
“I don’t know if they will give the trophy to Argentina,” Fernandes was quoted as saying by espn.
“I don’t care, I’ll say what I think and screw it up,” he continued.
“It’s very strange that a referee from a team still in the cup is presiding over us. They have clearly tilted the pitch against us,” said Bruno.
