Morocco vs Portugal : a football Odyssey

The Morocco national team will face Portugal in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup on Saturday 10th December at 4:00 pm Moroccan time, where the Atlas Lions will look to continue on a streak of inspiring wins.

An aspiring squad driven by the warmth and hopes of their nation, the Atlas Lions are looking to settle the score against their European neighbors.

This will be the third meeting between Morocco and Portugal, with the previous two both coming at the world cup. In 1986, Morocco won their first clash (3-1), before Portugal won (1-0) in the 2018 tournament where they also shared a group.

Out of 11 matchups in the knockout stage, the only two times that an African team won against a European team was Senegal’s 2-1 victory over Sweden in 2002 (round of 16), and Morocco’s penalty shootout victory over Spain during this year’s edition.

Morocco is looking to become the first African country to qualify for the semi-finals, as each of the previous African sides was eliminated at this stage (Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002, and Ghana in 2010).

Morocco comes into this match on a five-game unbeaten run at the World Cup, their longest-ever streak in the world cup, as well as being the side that netted the least amount of goals in the competition, making the Moroccan side statistically the best defense in Qatar, only conceding one goal, which came as an own-goal.

Portugal came into the game after a comfortable 6-1 victory over Switzerland, which saw Cristiano Ronaldo coming off the bench for the first time since 2006. The decision came in the wake of Ronaldo’s angry reaction to being substituted in the 65th minute of the final group stage game against South Korea, which Portugal went on to lose 2-1. But the Portugal manager insists that it had nothing to do with the decision, although he made it public that he wasn’t happy with it.

Goncalo Ramos starred for Portugal as his hat trick secured his team a spot for the quarter-finals, sending a strong message to Moroccan coach Walid Regragui. It remains to be seen how he will respond to the Portuguese’s offensive prowess.