Cristiano Ronaldo’s dreams of winning soccer’s top prize were essentially ended on Saturday as Morocco defeated Portugal 1-0 to advance as the first African nation to the World Cup Semi Finals.
The winning goal was scored by Youssef En-Nesyri in the 42nd minute, continuing Morocco’s incredible run.
Morocco will play either France or England in the semifinals.
It is a seminal moment in World Cup history, with an African nation finally advancing to the levels typically only reached by European or South American teams.
Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010) all reached the quarterfinals but got no further.
Morocco’s defense has yet to concede a goal by an opposition player at this year’s World Cup — the only one it has allowed was an own-goal.
The Moroccan squad is coached by French-born Walid Regragui and consists of 14 players born abroad.