WC football | Morocco enters history. Now he will challenge the past champions who sent England home

The battle between Morocco and Portugal, with star player Cristiano Ronaldo only on the bench, started without much waiting. Already in the 5th minute, the Portuguese striker Felix narrowly missed Bono’s goal in a good opportunity, two minutes later En Nesyri did the same on the other side. Attractive football from both sides continued.

In the 13th minute, Guerreiro’s shot was blocked by the Moroccan defense, Felix did the same again after half an hour of play. The key moment of the first half came in the 42nd minute, when Nasjrí headed home after an uncertain run by Costa, and Morocco took a surprising lead. The Portuguese could have equalized in a flash, but Fernandes’ clever attempt ended up just hitting the crossbar.

Cristiano Ronaldo entered the field in the 51st minute when he replaced Fernando Santos and equaled the world record with his 196th international start. In their desire to equalize, the Portuguese pushed their opponent into a deep defensive position, but Ramos and a moment later Fernandes in good positions did not hit the Moroccan goal.

Joao Felix struck again with a beautiful shot seven minutes before the end, but his bomb under the crossbar was pulled out by Bono with an even better save. In the 90th minute, Ronaldo could shine his aura of exceptionality even more, but in a promising position, he did not beat the goalkeeper with a ground shot. And when, in the eighth minute of regulation, even Pepe failed to make a huge chance, the fate of the Portuguese was sealed.

The French can still dream of defending their title. Aurélien Tchouaméni opened the scoring in the dramatic fight between two great rivals in the 17th minute, England captain Harry Kane equalized from the penalty nine minutes after the break, but Olivier Giroud decided in the 78th minute.

In the 84th minute, Kane could have sent the match into overtime, but he did not convert the second penalty kick in the match.

The selection of the Gaelic Rooster has succeeded for the seventh time out of nine World Cup quarter-final appearances, while England, on the other hand, have progressed in just three of 11 attempts and will not repeat the semi-final from the last championship four years ago.

France lost only one of the last nine duels with Albion, but they beat last year’s European vice-champions for the first time at the World Cup.

The Croatians and Argentines formed the first semi-final pair on Friday.