Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo applied a lot of pressure, but they were unsuccessful.

In the end, Youssef En-goal Nesyri's was enough to put Morocco through with a score of 1-0, proving that passion triumphed over pedigree.

With the victory, Morocco became the first country from Africa to go to the FIFA World Cup semi-finals, where three other countries had agonisingly missed out.

Just before halftime, En-Nesyri towered high in the sky to score, and the Moroccan defence seized control from that point on, suppressing the Portugal offence for the entire 90 minutes.

Ronaldo started the game on the bench, with Fernando Santos once again selecting Goncalo Ramos in the attack. However, soon before halftime, the Portugal manager resorted to his seasoned captain.

In the end, it had little impact since Ronaldo blew his one decent chance to alter the game later. Rafael Leao was the real burst of offensive flair, but he arrived too late to affect the final score.

In the meanwhile, Moroccan midfielders Sofiane Boufal and Azzedine Ounahi were instrumental in the game's outcome, and backup defender Yahia Attiyat Allah also made a significant contribution.

It didn't matter that Morocco's captain Romain Saiss left the game in the second half with an injury and that replacement Walid Cheddira was dismissed in stoppage time since the African country's form and structure were unaffected.

Yassine Bounou, the goalie, was also outstanding, making a series of tremendous saves to preserve the clean sheet and ensure qualifying for the match against the winner of England vs. France.

Cristiano Ronaldo is still trying to win the one big prize that has evaded him, and Portugal's next move may not even see him in the starting line-up.