Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 4th goal at this World Cup to help Portugal grab an 1-0 victory as Morocco become the first team to be knocked out of World Cup.
Match Events
4' GOAL! Portugal 1-0 Morocco (Cristiano Ronaldo)
GOAAALL Portugal 1-0 Morocco - He's at it again, Ronaldo grabs his fourth goal of the tournament from the corner. The Real Madrid star wrestles away from his marker before diving low to head home past Mohamedi. Superb start for Portugal!!
9' Ronaldo almost nets another goal!
CHANCE - Ronaldo nearly grabs a brace but he can only shoot wide of the far post. Morocco's defence collapses as Ronaldo turns on the edge of the box but he cannot find the bottom corner.
39' Guedes misses one-on-one chance!
SO CLOSE! Ronaldo brings the ball down and he plays in Guedes thanks to a well-weighted chip but the forward volleys straight into the hands of Mohamedi.
47' Fonte's header wide out!
WIDE! Portugal win a corner and Fonte climbs high but as he heads wide the referee gives a free kick to Morocco.
55' Amazing save from Rui Patricio!
WHAT A SAVE!!!!! Stunning reflexes from Patricio keeps the score at 1-0 as he somehow leaps across to his right and palms away Belhanda's header.
60' CHANCE! Benatia's shot over the bar!
CHANCE - Another set piece from Morocco causes problems and Benatia reacts quickly to try and volley home. However, he snatches at his effort and shoots into the stands. Terrible shot but another dangerous free kick from Renard's men.
82' Ronaldo goes down in the box but ref says no penalty!
Match Report
Cristiano Ronaldo took just four minutes to score the goal that made him the top-scoring European in international football as Portugal beat Morocco 1-0 in Moscow to dump Herve Renard's men out of the World Cup.
One the tournament's star performers so far picked up where he left off after his hat-trick against Spain in Portugal's opening 3-3 Group B draw, heading Fernando Santos' men into an early lead with a goal that moved him to 85 international goals - one ahead of the legendary Ferenc Puskas in the all-time standings.
Morocco head coach Renard came into the game having seen his players denied a point after dominating much of their opening encounter against Iran and they were largely the better side here too, keeping Portugal on the back foot and quelling the threat of Ronaldo for long periods.
Renard was involved in discussions with officials over two rejected first-half penalty claims but his side created enough chances to score from open play had they been more accurate in front of goal.
Portugal once again relied upon Ronaldo to produce their best moments and the weaknesses evident throughout the rest of Santos' team belie their pre-tournament billing as one of the favourites.
Morocco will have the chance to restore some pride by claiming a result from their final Group B game against Spain and will then head home disappointed not to have had more to show for two good displays in Russia, while Portugal took a huge step towards the last 16.
Line-ups
Portugal XI: Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe, José Fonte, Rui Patrício, João Moutinho, Cédric Soares, William Carvalho, Raphael Guerreiro, João Mário, Gonçalo Guedes, Bernardo Silva
Subs: Ricardo Quaresma, Bruno Alves, Manuel Fernandes, Adrien Silva, Beto, Anthony Lopes, Mário Rui, André Silva, Ricardo Pereira, Gelson Martins, Bruno Fernandes, Rúben Dias
Morocco XI: Manuel da Costa, Karim El Ahmadi, Moubarak Boussoufa, Nabil Dirar, Medhi Benatia, Nordin Amrabat, Younès Belhanda, Munir Mohamedi, K. Boutaïb, Hakim Ziyech, Achraf Hakimi
Subs: Mehdi Carcela-González, Aziz Bouhaddouz, Faycal Fajr, Bono, Romain Saïss, Sofyan Amrabat, Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti, Amine Harit, Hamza Mendyl, Youssef En-Nesyri, A. El Kaabi
Culeumar
331
Portuguese tactics.
Kelvinslah
321
two things still keeping Portugal in this world cup 1. Ronaldo 2. luck
abdirabi
318
RONALDO is next to golden boot because of what he did in 2 games
tauseef42
287
Morocco was better in every aspect except their finishing[Sadtolook][Sadtolook][Sadtolook]
IndikaAsiriSR4
257
Second Arab Team Out The World Cup Group Stage Bad Luck Morocco
moratorium
181
Cristiano wants to win everything this world cup. Golden Boot Golden Ball Golden Dolphin
Asap24
156
Played much better than Portugal
TonyV25
150
Wenger is impressed
Yorokiri
137
this is how Mourinho is looking at him right now!!!
Melodycarter
118
Portugal is a team that knows how to win no matter how they defend all they need is a front man who is very fast and can score in which Ronaldo is there which I think it is what is giving them results, they did they same at the euro which they eventually won, they sticked to what they know better, any team can play them for the whole 90minutes but their objective is not the possession but to win and that's what I call team spirit and discipline, I really like the way they play because world cup is not league in which you play 38 matches that's why they defend and play counter attack, I have nothing to say than to praise their hard work and commitment..... Nice one from you guys I hope you keep the spirit and inspired the world....
Kigando
101
Cristiano Ronaldo "The saviour"
Arsenalenglandfan123
88
How many chances did Morocco needed to score a goal???
This is our problem. If every Arab and African team had a 85 or over rated striker (I am talking in terms of Fifa. And Salah doesn't count.) they could have done better. Imagine Morroco having Kane instead of Benatia they could have won by far.
heberson763
82
He step up again.
Elmar91
57
He is the greatest player of all time for portugal and leading top goal scorer for both country and club. Just wait and see he will be the top goal scorer in the Fifa world cup 2018.
R227trrryijd
49
I magically can feel that Portuguese team would take safe in quarter final easily , if Ronaldo does the thing who always do that surely, but we shouldn't forget it also that this is a big stage & everyone should try their best to reach in to next phases of the WCR2018.but personally I believe in CR7s playing as most as essentially over Portuguese team.
EminenceBASIT
40
This man is unstoppable
Murugan
26
One Man Army [Vamos][Vamos]
micabdiptu
24
Boy some guys are just naturally stupid! I don't understand Ronaldo is an old guy now he can't do what he was able to do when he was in his prime age! I don't know why people are saying Morocco played the whole game and Portugal were lucky to win if that is the case, so is football it's not the team that play better in a particular game always win what happened in the FA cup final who played better football was it not Manchester and who won the game was it not Chelsea so guys please shut up! Please don't compare Messi with Ronaldo, Messi is naturally gifted with his talent and Ronaldo is were he is today because of God and his hard work!!! Am not trying to say God love Ronaldo more than Messi if He hated Messi He won't had given him what he have today. Everybody knows that Messi is the best player right now among all those that are currently playing football. So if God hated him he won't be in the position were he is today!
bright911
13
Portugal inexplicably lost control of the game despite managing to beat Morocco 1-0 in the World Cup Group B match on Wednesday and were lucky not to get themselves in more trouble, coach Fernando Santos said. The European champions took the lead in the fourth minute when Cristiano Ronaldo charged into the box to bury his header and become Europe's top international scorer with 85 goals.