Morocco became the first African nation to reach the semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup with a 1-0 win over Portugal on Saturday evening.
Nayef Aguerd and Noussair Mazraoui missed out for the Atlas Lions, whereas the Portuguese named Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench yet again and recalled Ruben Neves ahead of William Carvalho.
Morocco very nearly succumbed to an early threat by the Portuguese when a first-time header by Joao Felix needed a strong point-blank save from Yassine Bounou.
The Atlas Lions struggled to come alive after their quiet start led to no sustained ball retention but instead numerous possession turnovers to the Portuguese counterparts.
Morocco, though, pushed ahead three minutes to halftime after Youssef En-Nesyri rose quite high in the area and nodded into the roof of the net amidst a committed Diogo Costa.
The lead was immediately under threat after a speculative drive by Bruno Fernandes bounced off the top of the woodwork and back into play, with Bounou beaten on the line.
It was a period of persistent pressure from the Atlas Lions in the second half in which Costa needed to make himself big and smother Jawad El Yamiq's close-range strike from an Hakim Ziyech's ball.
As the A Selecao turned attention to the bench and threw on Ronaldo for Neves and Joao Cancelo for Raphael Guerrero, the tempo shifted with Fernandes going over from outside the area.
Portugal launched further scares before time where a cutback on the area by Ronaldo prompted Felix to step inside and curled towards the top-corner, but Bounou responded emphatically.
Ronaldo himself edged towards the equaliser in added time from a ball into the channels and forced a strong block from Bounou through a low snap shot.
Morocco were reduced down to ten players with the minutes ticking away as Walid Cheddira was sent off for picking up his second yellow in quick succession.
However, the Atlas Lions should've made it two later on through a one-on-one from Zakaria Aboukhalal but he failed to beat Costa before Pepe nodded an inviting heard wide as it finished 1-0 to the North African giants, who advance to the final four.
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.
Click here to register: Sign In