FIFA World Cup 2022, Quarter Finals: Morocco shock Portugal with 1-0 win, seal semi-final berth

The FIFA World Cup 2022 hosted by Qatar kicked off on November 20 and the hosts crashed out of the multinational tournament in the group stage. As things stand, on December 10, Saturday, Morocco faced off against Portugal in the quarter-finals and both teams toiled hard in the clash. 

Eventually, the first 45 minutes turned out to be a hard-fighting one for both teams and they gave it their all to make a cut to the semi-finals of the world’s biggest sporting event. To add more to the first half, much to the surprise of the Moroccan fans, it was their team who took the early lead and put Portugal on the back foot. 

Youssef En-Nesyri, the star player from Morocco, scored the first goal for his team with a head in the 42nd minute and stunned the spectators, who otherwise thought it would be the Portuguese camp who would take the lead the initial half. The first half ended with a scoreline of 1-0 in Morocco’s favour and the game looked equally poised. 

Thriller between Morocco-Portugal in quarter-finals of FIFA World Cup 2022

Morocco started off the second 45 minutes in a confident way and the Portuguese players struggled to match the lead, given the scoreline remained unchanged at the 50-minute mark. It remained to be seen if Portugal could make a comeback, given that the game was slipping away from their hands and the team were facing a humiliating exit from the FIFA World Cup 2022. 

Fans, on the other hand, awaited the winner of the epic game and many were rooting for Portugal, given that the country flaunts one of the most epic fanbases in history. Much to the surprise of the Portuguese fans, the scoreline remained unchanged even at the 80-minute mark and the players, on the other hand, looked rusty and were low on morale. Eventually, it was Morocco who won the game with a scoreline of 1-0, after toiling hard for more than 90 minutes and the Moroccan camp made a cut to the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2022.