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Morocco will be facing Portugal in one of the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup 2022. The former is enjoying an incredible campaign in the quadrennial tournament on middle eastern soil. They caused yet another upset en route to securing a place in the last eight. The Atlas Lions stunningly knocked the 2010 World Champion Spain out in the penalty shootout after both teams failed to score a single goal throughout the regular 90 minutes and in the added half an hour.

The fact that Morocco beat Belgium in the group stage in addition to topping their pool which additionally had the presence of Croatia is also worth mentioning. On the other hand, their upcoming opponent Portugal seems to have just found their click and with every passing minute, they are growing as serious title contenders.

The European Selecao thrashed one of the most headstrong defenses, Switzerland with a score of 6-1 in the last match of this world knockouts. It arguably was the most impressive display of this tournament so far. The result rivaled and might have surpassed the tournament’s other formidable stature, Brazil.

Morocco vs Portugal Recent Team News And Expected Lineups

Portugal’s coach, Fernando Santos shocked the world when he benched the nation’s hero, Cristiano Ronaldo in the match against Switzerland. Had the decision not met the scoreline of 6-1, Santos would have faced immense criticism. However, now that the boldest move of his career has worked, the 68-year-old coach will certainly have a much greater dilemma regarding whether or not he should still stick to his guns in the game against Morocco. The anticipation that Ronaldo would be benched again is one of the biggest talking points to come out of this world cup. The other side of this contention is the inclusion of Goncalo Ramos, who in the last match became the first man to score a hat trick in this world cup. That feat surely has made him a strong competitor to ex-Real Madrid forward, Cristiano Ronaldo. Nevertheless, the five-time Ballondr winner is yet to miss out again in the starting eleven against Morocco, according to most recent reports.

Porto midfielder Otavio also enjoyed his time among the first men to play against Switzerland; he may very well get to that with Morocco also. The sidelined ones for Portugal are PSG midfielder Danilo Pereira and possibly Man City’s left-back, Joao Cancelo.

As for Morocco, the men who shone in the match against Spain namely Hakim Ziyech, Sofyan Amrabat, Achraf Hakimi, and Sofiane Boufal will definitely make a threatful presence in the midfield and top. Another hero to have emerged from the match against Spain is Sevilla shot-stopper Yassine Bounou who saved two penalties from La Roja in the shoot-outs. He certainly is going to make an impact versus Portugal too.

Morocco vs Portugal Predictions

This Moroccan side will surely live in history as the best ever in the FIFA World Cup history. To hold off the likes of Croatia in addition to brushing aside the heavyweights like Spain and Belgium is something never to be forgotten. If nothing, Morocco has definitely cemented their reputation as a big underdog.

However considering the gap between the quality of players from Portugal and the Atlas Lions in addition to the former’s long-established fame as the second-tier favorites, this tie could be just-just a bit too much for the North Africans. Something seems to have galvanized the Selecao squad in the last match courtesy of which they pulled out an outstanding performance against the usually solid Swiss.

Projected Scoreline Morocco 0-2 Portugal

Morocco vs Portugal Previous Meetings

The two teams have met each other in the past although only two times. In fact, the match between them happened at the World Cup tournaments itself with the first one taking place in 1986 while the second one occurred recently at the 2018 edition. The first match saw Morocco winning the tie with a score of 3-1 whereas, in the last match, Portugal was the victor via 1-0.

Morocco vs Portugal Odds

Source: Sporting News 

Morocco vs Portugal Previous Stats Of Each Team