Morocco, the one African crew nonetheless within the World Cup, will face an in-form Portugal of their first-ever quarter-final.
Who: Portugal vs Morocco
The place: Al Thumama Stadium
When: , December 10, 6pm (15:00 GMT)
It’s a contest between two sides that can be on the peak of their confidence.
Morocco’s Atlas Lions are unbeaten at this World Cup and have already pulled off two main upsets, towards Spain and Belgium. However they’ll be up towards a Portugal facet that fired six targets previous Switzerland on Tuesday – with no need to start out with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Morocco, buoyed by their penalty heroics towards Spain within the final 16, at the moment are in uncharted territory: They’ve by no means made it to the quarter-finals earlier than. However they’ve solely conceded one objective in 4 World Cup video games. Morocco additionally boast arguably essentially the most vocal and devoted set of supporters at this match.
![Undefeated Morocco eye historical past as they face in-form Portugal 7 morocco vs spain](https://i0.wp.com/fifanews.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Undefeated-Morocco-eye-history-as-they-face-in-form-Portugal.jpg?w=1170)
If Morocco win, they would be the first African crew to succeed in a World Cup semi-final. The winner of their recreation towards Portugal will tackle both England or France within the closing 4.
Portugal’s coach, Fernando Santos, selected to start out the Switzerland recreation with star ahead Ronaldo on the bench. The choice appeared to unshackle the attacking creativity within the crew as Ronaldo’s substitute Goncalo Ramos bagged himself a hat-trick. Ramos has scored 14 targets in 21 video games for Benfica this season and lived as much as his nickname O Feiticeiro – the wizard – towards the Swiss. He can be a participant that Morocco might want to control.
![Undefeated Morocco eye historical past as they face in-form Portugal 8 Portugal's Goncalo Ramos celebrates after scoring the World Cup tournament's first hat-trick.](https://i0.wp.com/fifanews.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1670654095_569_Undefeated-Morocco-eye-history-as-they-face-in-form-Portugal.jpg?w=1170)
Morocco have proven unimaginable composure up to now on this match and are unlikely to be intimidated by the event. Nothing embodies their calm and picked up spirit greater than Morocco and Paris Saint-Germain’s defensive stalwart, Achraf Hakimi, who scored their profitable penalty towards Spain with the gentlest of panenkas.
Yassine “Bono” Bounou, Morocco’s mild-mannered goalkeeper, was the match’s hero as Spain failed to attain a single penalty within the shootout. He might want to proceed this way within the face of a red-hot Portugal assault.
![Undefeated Morocco eye historical past as they face in-form Portugal 9 Bono](https://i0.wp.com/fifanews.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1670654095_754_Undefeated-Morocco-eye-history-as-they-face-in-form-Portugal.jpg?w=1170)
To be clear, Morocco are usually not only a defensive facet; additionally they boast a substantial artistic aptitude, together with Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech and Sofiane Boufal, the previous Southampton winger who bamboozled Spain’s Marcos Llorente a number of occasions along with his trickery.
Portugal additionally boast an abundance of artistic expertise, with the likes of Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes driving ahead and Manchester Metropolis’s Bernardo Silva in midfield.
![Undefeated Morocco eye historical past as they face in-form Portugal 10 Portugal's Bruno Fernandes in action against Switzerland's Ruben Vargas as they both try to head the ball.](https://i0.wp.com/fifanews.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1670654095_606_Undefeated-Morocco-eye-history-as-they-face-in-form-Portugal.jpg?w=1170)
Danilo Pereira, the Paris Saint-Germain centre again, remains to be a doubt for the sport after fracturing a number of ribs in coaching. Nonetheless, Pepe, the 39-year-old veteran, has accomplished a positive job as a substitute and even grabbed a objective in Portugal’s 6-1 rout of Switzerland.
The 2 groups have confronted one another twice on the World Cup. On the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Morocco beat Portugal 3-1 within the group levels. Ronaldo scored the one objective of the sport on the 2018 World Cup in Russia as Portugal picked up an important three factors to progress to the spherical of 16.
![Undefeated Morocco eye historical past as they face in-form Portugal 11 Interactive - World Cup - head to head - Morocco v Portugal](https://i0.wp.com/fifanews.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Undefeated-Morocco-eye-history-as-they-face-in-form-Portugal.png?w=1170)
The 37-year-old, beset by controversies in latest weeks, will wish to cement his legacy by extending Portugal’s run at this World Cup, prone to be his final. However historical past beckons for Morocco, too. It’s the stuff desires and heartbreak are made from.