World Cup: Morocco stun Portugal, become first African nation to reach semifinals

• Morocco shocked Portugal in a hard-fought one-nil victory to progress to the last four of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar
• Walid Regragui's side took a 42nd-minute lead through En-Nesyri's header as they came on strong late in the first half
• His goal proved to be the match-winner as the Atlas Lions ensured Africa's continuous participation at the Mundial

Morocco became the first nation to reach the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup after beating Portugal in their quarterfinal tie.

The Atlas Lions of Morocco finally broke the semifinal glass ceiling which has been an albatross for African countries.

Walid Regragui's charges did the unthinkable thanks to a solitary first-half strike from En Neysri.

They will face the winners of the England and France tie in their semifinal showdown slated for Tuesday, December 14.

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What has been Africa's record?

The previous best performance from an African side has been a quarterfinal berth with Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010) all missing the promised land by a whisker.

Morocco's En Neysri chalks new milestone

Morocco forward Youssef En Nesyri has joined an elite list of African players to score at the quarter-final stage of the World Cup.

The Sevilla forward opened the scoring for Morocco in their game against Portugal to join Emmanuel Kunde and Eugene Ekeke of Cameroon as well as Ghana's Sulley Muntari as Africans to score in the last eight of the global showpiece.

En-Nesyri rose high to head home with a cross from Yahia Attiyat Allah and break the deadlock in the 42nd minute.

Morocco down Portugal

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Morocco became the first African nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals as Youssef En-Nesyri's first-half goal sealed a tense 1-0 victory over Portugal on Saturday at Al Thumama Stadium.

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The Atlas Lions, also the first Arab team to make the last four, added Portugal to their list of European scalps with a resolute second-half performance.

Cristiano Ronaldo has likely played his last World Cup match after making an ineffectual appearance as a second-half substitute, failing to score his first knockout-phase goal at the tournament.