Doha. Another quarter-final match of the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar saw a major upset. In the quarter-final match on Saturday night, Morocco defeated Cristiano Ronaldo’s strong team Portugal 1-0 and showed the way out of the World Cup. With this, Morocco has also become the first African team to reach the semi-finals of this prestigious tournament. Earlier no country in Africa had reached this level. Cristiano Ronaldo was seen crying after the match at Al-Thumama Stadium. Before Morocco, Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010 reached the quarter-finals. The special thing is that Portugal has lost for the first time in the quarter final match of the FIFA World Cup.
Let us tell you the condition of the first match. Morocco took a 1-0 lead over Portugal early in the first half. In the 42nd minute, Moroccan N. Nesri stunned the Portugal goalie with an excellent header. Portugal was stunned by this. He tried to return. Several attacks on the Moroccan goal post were spoken, but the defenders and the Moroccan goalkeeper Yassin Bruno did not allow the Portuguese players to succeed. Cristiano Ronaldo was sent on as a substitute in the 51st minute, but it was too late by then. The intention with which Morocco came down is evident from the fact that they had to play with 10 players till the last few minutes, but even then they did not give any chance to Portugal.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who was seen shedding tears after this match, will now probably retire from international football matches. Ronaldo has played 5 consecutive FIFA World Cups. He could not score in any of the 8 knockout matches. However, he has taken 27 shots. Ronaldo scored a goal in the first match of the group stage. Ronaldo, however, has equaled the record for playing the most international matches. He played his 196th match on Saturday and tied with Kuwait’s Badr-al-Mutawa. He has also become the first player in the world to score goals in the last 5 FIFA World Cups.