World Cup brackets

Youssef En-Nesyri's header sends Morocco into the locker room with a surge of momentum. Follow live.

Morocco 1, Portugal 0: That was almost a wonder-strike for Portugal at the end of the half. But that goal was Ronaldo’s only one in this tournament and perhaps the final one of his World Cup career. This is a big moment not only for the continent but also for the Arab world, with this being the first World Cup held in the Middle East. In the tunnel, television cameras showed Ronaldo — one of the most decorated players to never have won a World Cup and who had been reduced to a substitute player of late — wiping tears from his eyes. “As an African myself watching the first African team make it to the semifinals is a huge source of pride and love and joy,” Ms. Ronaldo arrived in Qatar as one of the most famous people in the world, one of the best players to play soccer in any era. At the point of an attack that featured a line of four forwards in ever more desperate attempts to break Moroccan resistance, Ronaldo could not bend the World Cup to his will. The ball hung in the air for what seemed like an age, before the tall striker Youssef En-Nesyri, timing his run to perfection, headed it in a fraction of a second before the goalkeeper Diogo Costa could get his hand on it. Of Morocco’s 26-member team, just 12 were born in Morocco, the lowest ratio in the competition, according to a tally by FIFA. But national teams in Africa have struggled to make a mark late in the tournament until now. Having never previously been in contention for soccer’s biggest prize, Morocco is just one game from a place in the final, after dispatching the likes of Belgium, Spain and now Portugal without allowing them a single goal. Cries of joy, horns and fireworks kicked off a party, worthy of a World Cup final, that spread through the Moroccan capital.

Morocco were huge underdogs ahead of their game vs. Portugal but became the first African side to advance to the World Cup semifinals.

- Portugal are 1-7-0 (W-L-D) when trailing at half-time at the World Cup. Morocco: Incredibly, a World Cup semifinal against England or France is next on the agenda at the Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday at 10 p.m. - En-Nesyri's goal was the second headed goal ever scored by Morocco in World Cup history. - Entering the match, Morocco were on a nine-match unbeaten streak in all competitions: the second-longest among teams still in the World Cup. Eight different players have scored for Fernando Santos' team at the World Cup and it was the wrong moment for almost all of them to have an off day. [Youssef En-Nesyri](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/242736/Youssef-En-Nesyri) got the only goal in a dramatic 1-0 win at Al Thumama and denied Portugal what would have been a place in the last four for the first time for 16 years. If this is the last we see of one of history's great players on this stage then it was a very meek way to bow out. We fought for each ball and we are very happy with the win, and it's very important for us and for the future." Morocco struck a huge blow for African and Arab football by becoming the first team to reach a World Cup semifinal. [Bracket](https://www.espn.com/soccer/bracket) [Highlights and notable moments](#highlights) [Best/worst performers](#bestworst)

Kylian Mbappe has helped push France forward -- despite numerous injuries -- with five goals and two assists while Harry Kane's creative forces have made ...

Next up for France is a clash with Morocco as the defending World Cup champs keep their pursuit of back to back titles going. France were pushing to open the game but with England's defense sitting back, Aurelien Tchouameni opened the scoring with a goal from outside the box in the 17th minute. Two of the favorites for the World Cup title squared off in a game that was certainly fit for it.

The Atlas Lions squad won their quarterfinal match and advances in the 2022 World Cup. We break down what's next for them in the semifinals.

They are 0-2-5 against France, playing them to a draw in the 1987 Mediterranean Games and a 2007 international friendly. Morocco has one win in international competition against France and none against England. Morocco has made history at the 2022 World Cup.

The French squad won their quarterfinal match and advances in the 2022 World Cup. We break down what's next for them in the semifinals.

They won the tournament in 1998, lost the final to Italy in penalty kicks in 2006, and beat Croatia in 2018. France leads the series 5-2-0, but this will be their first World Cup match. They lost in the semis in their first three trips, and have won their last three visits.

France earned a 2-1 victory over England on Saturday and a place in Wednesday's semifinal against Morocco.

“Tonight is probably the best fight that we’ve played against a major nation across the period I’ve been in charge,” he said. “There was some singing and dancing,” Giroud said. France then went ahead in the 78th minute when, from a step off the sideline, Griezmann delivered a killer cross. “It reminds me of the mentality we had in 2018, that determination we showed,” Giroud said. “I thought I might get another chance,” he said. Theo Hernández barreled into Mason Mount from behind in the box. With Mbappé dodging challenges, France moved the ball from side to side. The sequence began at the other end of the field. Saka drove a six-yarder wide, and Pickford made a remarkable save on Giroud’s side-volley. “Gradually we are getting stronger and stronger,” Deschamps said. Pickford made a quality save, and Harry Maguire’s header missed by a whisker. “There’s nobody I would have rather had in that situation,” English Coach Gareth Southgate said.

That skill had fetched six goals against Switzerland in the previous round, and that skill included that of Cristiano Ronaldo, the 37-year-old global star who ...

The Moroccan national anthem boomed and stirred as usual, even with the absences of those still trying to enter. It greeted the clearances of the starting defenders Achraf Hakimi (who plays for Paris Saint-Germain), Romain Saiss (of Besiktas in Turkey), Jawad El Yamiq (Real Valladolid in Spain) and Attiat Allah (Wydad AC in Casablanca, where Regragui previously coached). Freelance vendors picked up on the sensation and arrived with clusters of Moroccan flags to sell. Ticketless fans who wished to join the joy enlarged the throngs, which seemed to complicate the management of the stadium passageways. Then they all bowed to their fans and adopted a sujud posture and posed for a team picture, right in front of the goal Bono had protected against the waves of Portuguese skill. Those ends lent fuel to the frenzy of a Saturday night even before kickoff. He appeared to cry in the tunnel on the way out, departing the World Cup after five appearances stretched from 2006 through 2022, with one semifinal showing in 2006. The header he found up there also found goalkeeper Diogo Costa out of position, then bounced once on its way into the middle of the goal. “When someone talks of a Moroccan player, they know now they can play at the highest level of performance.” Yet just like Belgium and Spain before them, they lost to Morocco, and just like semifinalist Croatia in group play, they had not scored. DOHA, Qatar — With the indestructible will of its defense and the inconceivable din of its fans, Morocco achieved World Cup history Saturday night, venturing further into the hard, hard knockout brackets than any African nation before. Upon this joyride of a fourth African quarterfinalist ever and now first semifinalist, non-Moroccan Arabs and Africans