Portugal and Morocco met in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup, and the Europeans won 1-0.
Portugal and Morocco will meet this Saturday (10) in the quarterfinals world Cup from Qatar. The last meeting between the two teams was in 2018, in the group stage of the World Cup held in Russia, and the Portuguese had the star of Cristiano Ronaldo and a brilliant performance by Rui Patricio to win the confrontation 1-0.
CR7 scored Portugal’s winning goal against Morocco in 2018 (Photo: FADEL SENNA/AFP)
Photo: Lance!
After scoring a hat-trick on his debut against Spain in 2018, CR7 went on a good phase and took four minutes to put the Portuguese team ahead against Atlas Lions. Four years later, the script changed for the Portuguese star, who was no longer unanimous in Portugal and lost the title to Gonçal Ramos, who scored a hat-trick against Switzerland.
Another notable figure for Portugal against Morocco in 2018 was goalkeeper Rui Patricio. The Africans dominated the match and had 15 submissions. In the 12th minute of the first half, the goalkeeper saved a header from Belanda in a move similar to Gordon Banks’ “save of the century” against Pelé in the 1970 World Cup.
In Qatar, Rui Patricio came on as a substitute and “passed the baton” to Diogo Costa, the 23-year-old who failed his debut but was an important figure in the Portuguese team’s campaign in the competition.
Frenchman Hervé Renard managed Morocco in Russia, a sensational manager in Qatar who managed to get Saudi Arabia to beat Argentina with one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.
The winner of Portugal and Morocco will play either France or England in the semi-finals of the World Cup. The Portuguese have not been in the top four teams since the 2006 World Cup in Germany. On the other hand, the Atlas Lions want to be the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the Cup.
