So that’s that . . . History made as Morocco reach the World Cup semi-finals. That could be the last we see of Cristiano Ronaldo in a Portugal shirt, and almost certainly at a World Cup, but thankfully it won’t be the last we see of this passionate, superbly organised, fearless and skillful Moroccan team at this tournament. They will play the winner of tonight’s final quarter-final clash between France and England in the final four.
We will be back for the live blog of that match later this evening, until then keep an eye out on the homepage for Gavin Cummiskey’s report from Qatar.
Scroll down to follow the action as it happened. Thanks for joining us.
FT Morocco 1 Portugal 0
FT Morocco 1 Portugal 0 - Ronaldo is heading down the tunnel in tears. All the talk from a Portugal perspective will be about his exclusion from the starting team, but the big story is Morocco are the first Arab and African nation into a World Cup semi-final. And deservedly so, they’ve beaten Belgium. Spain and now Portugal!
It’s over! Morocco are into the World Cup semi-finals!!!!!!
96 mins - What a chance for Pepe with a header at the back post. It’s inches wide. An excellent cross in by Leao.
95 mins - Zakaria Aboukhlal gets on the end of a counter attack, one on one with a chance to end the contest. But his attempted lob is easily saved! A poor finish. But seconds later Amrabat is back tackling again, what spirit and energy by the Moroccans!
93 mins - Red card for Morocco! Two yellows in as many minutes for Cheddira. The second, such a silly challenge to make at this stage when already on a yellow.
89 mins - A desperate cross into the box is easily cleared by Morocco, they counter with Amrabat playing a brilliant through pass which Cheddira took on even though he was offside with an onside player beside him. He takes it into the box, cuts inside and shoots wide. Portugal then instantly have a big chance of their own with Ronaldo played through but he opts for power and it’s well saved by Bono who is out quickly. End to end.
Eight minutes added on.
86 mins - Fernandes sends in a cross from the right, and Jawad El Yamiq gets down to head it clear with the Portugal players around him roaring for a hand ball. But neither the referee nor VAR are interested and Morocco are still holding on.
83 mins - Substitute Ricardo Horta gathers a poor clearance, picks out Ronaldo who lays it off to Joao Felix and his curling effort is superbly tipped over by Bounou. Bruno Fernandes then smashes a free-kick into the wall.
80 mins - With 10 minutes left and after being down receiving treatment a few times, Ziyech is replaced. Can Morocco, with so many players now off injured after giving everything over these past few games, hold on for a place in the World Cup semi-finals?
74 mins - Corner after corner after corner for Portugal. The latest coming after Cancelo is under pressure along the sideline but cuts back inside and leaves two Moroccans tackling thin air, before running down the line and having his cross deflected out.
Morocco defend them all though and then counter superbly. They play it out of their back line, work it down the right wing and then over the top and they are just that final pass away from creating a one on one chance. But Portugal clear their lines.
71 mins - Rafael Leao wins a free-kick down the left wing. Bruno Fernandes takes it and picks out Bernardo Silva with a really smart low pass but he’s just not quite able to meet it, at full stretch. Inches.
67 mins - Portugal patiently work it around the two Moroccan lines defending the box. It’s played out to Bruno Fernandes who sends in a cross using the outside of his right boot but there’s too much on it for Ronaldo to get there and the goalkeeper gathers. Ramos is off, Rafael Leao is on.
63 mins - Morocco are just sitting in now protecting that lead. Bernardo Silva picks out Bruno Fernandes at the edge of the box. A man in form, but he blazes his effort inches over the bar. Another big chance.
58 mins - Ramos rises high to meet a cross in from the right but he’s stretching for it and his attempt to put it back across goal ends up going well wide. That was Portugal’s best chance so far. Saiss is really struggling with that hamstring injury and Achraf Dari is coming on for him, he’s probably their fifth choice centre half. They’ve had so many injury problems to contend with in that position.
54 mins - Dalot is in the box with a few options but he tries to cross it to the front post. It’s easily gathered by Bounou. A waste by the United right back. Ounahi then slices a shot over the bar at the other end after a slick bit of interplay by the Moroccans to tee him up outside the box.
51 mins - Cristiano Ronaldo and Joao Cancelo come on, the two big names left out for the last two games. Guerreiro and Ruben Neves depart.
49 mins - Ziyech sends in a brilliant free-kick that misses about three Moroccan heads by an inch, before bouncing and being well saved by Diogo Costa who did brilliantly to keep his eye on it.
GAME ON! The second half is underway. No half-time changes for either side. Diogo Dalot has his cross blocked for an early Portugal corner. Pepe goes down after a jersey pull looking for a penalty but nothing comes of it.
A half empty stadium for that first half as thousands of Moroccan fans with tickets have been unable to get in as officials say they are delayed trying to deal with ticketless fans. What a shame, but nevertheless the fans in the stadium are making themselves heard!!
HT Morocco 1 Portugal 0 - Morocco lead at half-time. They’ve defended excellently and had as many if not more chances to score than Portugal. Who bossed the possession stakes, especially early on but are finding clear cut chances hard to come by. One team is growing in confidence and the other in frustration. The big question now - when will Portugal bring on Ronaldo?
45 mins - End to end for two minutes. Bruno Fernandes lines up a cross but then has a go from the right and rattles the crossbar. Then he’s down in the box a minute later diving for a penalty. And then Morocco break with Yahya Attiat-Allah played through with just the goalkeeper to beat as he steps into the box, but the left back lets it across his body and goes for power, shooting wide. A right footed finish was needed there to make an angle for himself. Two minutes added on.
GOALLLLLLLLL - Morocco!!! Yahya Attiat-Allah sends in a looping cross from the left. En-Nesyri gets up so so well and flicks it in. The Portugal goalkeeper came out and was well beaten to the flight off it, while his defenders had pretty much stopped to let him claim it. Bad goalkeeping, but also a majestic leap. Ronaldo-esque. (43 mins)
38 mins - Guerreiro sends in an early cross and it’s met on the half volley by Joao Felix who looked a bit shocked to see it coming to him as he entered the box and his shot reflects that. Well over the bar. Morocco are defending well and growing in confidence.
34 mins - Morocco are happy to try and play out through the Portuguese press. They eventually go long and Ziyech’s touch is beautiful to turn the clearance into a counter, it’s switched across to Soufiane Boufal who spots the overlap on his left shoulder, the early cross is met first time by Selim Amallah but it’s well over the bar.
29 mins - Approaching the half hour mark and Joao Felix wins the second ball after Morocco’s deep line heads away a long ball only as far as the edge of the box. The Atletico Madrid forward’s shot is deflected just inches over the crossbar. The subsequent corner is well defended.
23 mins - Bruno Fernandes attacks a cross which is gathered brilliantly by Yassine Bounou, and then absolutely clatters into him. The rest of the Moroccan players aren’t best impressed but the goalkeeper is up and getting on with it.
20 mins - Ziyech whips in a cross which is cleared. Sofyan Amrabat shows his quality winning it back straight away and feeding it back out to his team’s star man, and his attempted cross is blocked out for a corner. Then cleared out for another. But that comes to nothing.
16 mins - Hakim Ziyech collects the ball in space down the right wing, he steps inside, gets it out of his feet and has a go with that left foot wand of his. But he pulls it wide.
12 mins - Bruno Fernandes whips in another tasty free-kick, this time to the back post where Ruben Neves heads it back to Raphael Guerreiro. His volley is well struck but it’s well blocked and cleared too.
10 mins - Portugal have had 73 per cent of possession so far with Morocco lurking with intent for any sniff of a counter attacking opportunity. Which is exactly as this was expected to play out.
6 mins - What a chance for Morocco. Youssef En-Nesyri skies a free header well over the crossbar from the first corner of the game. Which they’d won after a lightning quick counter-attack.
4 mins - Joao Felix tests the Moroccan goalkeeper with a diving header, getting on the end of a teasing free-kick from the right. The first chance of the game!
GAME ON! Morocco wearing their usual red and green jersey with Portugal in their white away kit. The stadium is half empty with reports of ticket-holding fans being held up outside due to so many ticketless fans trying to get in.
When he’s on the pitch Portugal become a nine-man defensive unit. He doesn’t show for the ball any more, he no longer moves like the Real Madrid Ronaldo, he cannot get across a defender at the front post. He can still leap like a salmon and that’s worth a punt if Portugal go a goal down to Morocco. But only with 15 minutes remaining.
— Kevin Kilbane
“Hakim Ziyech is the wizard. Morocco’s World Cup odyssey was always going to come down to his left foot....”
[ Hakim Ziyech, a magician at the heart of Moroccan love storyOpens in new window ]
TEAM NEWS
Morocco: Yassine Bounou, Achraf Hakimi, Jawad Yamiq, Romain Saiss, Yahya Attiat-Allah, Sofyan Amrabat, Selim Amallah, Azzedine Ounahi, Hakim Ziyech, Soufiane Boufal, Youssef En-Nesyri.
Portugal: Diogo Costa, Diogo Dalot, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Raphael Guerreiro, Ruben Neves, Bruno Fernandes, Otavio, Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix, Goncalo Ramos.
Goncalo Ramos is up top for Portugal after his hat-trick against Switzerland, leaving Ronaldo to make an imact off the bench. Romain Saiss starts for Morocco despite limping his way through the closing stages of the win over Spain with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
Hello and welcome . . . Cristiano Ronaldo starts on the bench again as Portugal take on Morocco in the first World Cup quarter-final of the weekend. If yesterday is anything to go by - Croatia’s shock shoot-out win over Brazil, the Netherlands’ comeback, and Argentina’s eventual win on penalties - we are set for a busy day! Morocco look to continue their fairytale, a win this afternoon will make them the first Arab or African nation to reach the World Cup semis. Portugal are favourites, but so were Belgium and Spain.
Kick-off is at 3pm Irish time.
We will keep you updated with the latest scores and action as it happens. Keep in touch via Twitter (@DonoghueEamon) but for now, let’s get started!!
