Here's David Hytner's match report from Moscow
And Cristiano will no doubt be delighted that he is leading this race:
Rate the players here
Updated
Full-time: Portugal 1-0 Morocco
Portugal survive! Morocco were the better team for most of the match and created an array of chances but they couldn’t find a telling touch when it mattered most. And that’s what Ronaldo specialises in. His early goal was the difference between the two teams. Morocco are eliminated from the World Cup despite a gallant display. They will be very, very frustrated. For years it was Portugal who had loads of brilliant players but not a top goalscorer. Maybe there’ll be a Moroccan Cristiano Ronaldo along in years to come. But for now, they’re going home (after playing Spain in their last game).
Updated
90+ 4 min: Morocco win the ball back and hurry forward, desperate to create one more chance ....
90+4 min: Corner to Portugal. Morocco may not see the ball again ...
90+3 min: Morocco chuck a freekick into the mixer. It breaks to Benatia, who slams a left-foot shot ... over the bar from 10 yards! Another chance spurned.
90 min: There will be at least five more minutes. Can Morocco break through at last?
90 min: Benatia taps Pepe on the back of the shoulder. Pep goes down like he’s been hit by a sledgehammer. The man has no dignity. But he’s winning.
Updated
89 min: Amrabat slips in Ziyach, who cuts in from the right, darts past two and unloads from 10 yards. Pepe flings himself in front of it and deflects it over the bar, then celebrates like he’s scored. He certainly saved his team. Morocco denied again!
Updated
Portugal substitution: Adrien Silva on, Moutinho off
85 min: Ronaldo sends a rocket into the wall. Then he chases after it to try to get to the rebound. He succeeds ... and then is clipped by Amrabat. He falls to the ground and then gets up and makes the TV screen gesture. But not all contact is a foul. And that should be a booking for Ronaldo.
Updated
84 min: Suddenly Portugal mount an attack. Benatia brings down Ronaldo inches outside the box, right in the D. Danger here ...
81 min: A Moroccan corner is cleared. Dirar runs on to the ball 30 yards out and senses his moment has come! He’s wrong. His shot veers towards Siberia. Meanwhile, a replay of the chaos in the Portuguese box a moment ago reveals that there was no foul, just lots of panicked players trying to get a telling touch on a ball that was pinging around.
80 min: Ziyach with a corner from the left. His outswinger sparks mayhem in the box. A Moroccan goes to ground and there are loud calls for a penalty! But the ref waves play on. I’ve no idea what happened but will let you know if a replay sheds any light. Portugal are clinging on here!
79 min: Ziyach flights in a dangerous freekick from the right. Benatia meets it six yards out ... but with his shoulder rather than his head, and the ball bounces wide. This must be agonising for Morocco fans!
Updated
76 min: Amrabat is now operating from the left. That’s almost unbelievable given how much he was making Guerreiro suffer. Ziyach is deployed on the right now and, in fairness, he should be able to hurt Guerreiro, too.
Morocco substitution: Carcela on, Belhanda off.
73 min: Morocco continue to apply pressure. You wouldn’t rule them out winning this, let alone equalising. If only precision didn’t desert them in the box. They’re both beautiful and exasperating to watch. It’s slightly bizarre that they could exit this tournament without scoring a goal. Apart from for Iran, that is.
Updated
71 min: Martins hassled into losing the ball just outside his own box. Ziyach tries to thread it through to Kaabi but, as too often today, the most important pass goes awry.
Portugal substitution: Bruno Fernandes on, Joao Mario off.
Morocco substitution: El Kaabi on, Boutaib off. That’s one centre-forward for another. At some point Renard may fancy sticking two up top.
67 min: Freekick to Morocco after Guerreiro fouls Boussoufa, for a change. It’s a couple of yards outside the area, mid-way between the D and the corner. Ziyach steps up ... and curls over the bar. Never looked like it was going in.
65 min: Guerreiro booked for pulling down Amrabat. Don’t rule out a red card for the full-back: he has no idea how to handle the winger, who’s been tormenting him all game.
Updated
64 min: Morocco are dominant. They’re forcing Portugal to defend in numbers and increasingly deep. And they appeal for a penalty again when a cross from the right hits the arm of a defender. But the defender was too close to the attacker to be able to get out of the way so it could not be construed as deliberate.
62 min: Morocco attack again. Their build-up play is splendid but their finishing is infuriating. But there’s still time ... “The ref got in the way of a Moroccan pass a few minutes ago,” observes Peter Oh. “I suppose it’s good to see an American get a touch of the ball in this tournament.” Badoom-tish.
60 min: Another Moroccan freekick is sent into the box. The ball breaks to Benatia, 15 yards. He sidesteps a defender neatly ... but then snatches at his shot, whacking over the bar!
Portugal substitution: Gelson Martins on, Silva off
Updated
57 min: Ziyach sends over a vicious in-swinging freekick from the right. Belhanda rises and gets a splendid downward header to it from 10 yards. Patricio dives to his right and tips it up and over the bar. That’s a brilliant save, not a million miles away from Banks’ from Pele in 1970!
Updated
55 min: Amrabat makes progress down the right again. Then he feeds Belhanda, who shuffles at the corner of the box and bangs off a testing shot. Patricio is equal to it.
54 min: Portugal have raised their game a little since half-time. They’re still not fluent, or even on top, but are at least they’re ensuring more of the play takes place in the Moroccan half.
51 min: Portugal catch out Morocco with a quick free near half-way. The Moroccasn were arguing with the ref! Joao Mario then pulls the bak from the byline to Silva, who miscues from 15 yards. The ball rolls out Ronaldo, charging into the box like a train ... but his shot is wild, flying high and wide. Cue jeers from the Moroccan fans.
49 min: Ronaldo robbed by Boussoufa as he surveyed his passing options inside the Moroccan half.
47 min: Portugal re-enact the short-corner routine that led to their goal. Fonte gets his head to it again but this time he’s under pressure and can’t direct it on to the target.
Updated
46 min: We’re back. No changes during the break. But Renard did spent a minute or two talking to the officials in the tunnel, seemingly trying to convince the American referee to take a closer look at some of the challenges: Portugal seemed to get the benefit of most of the 50/50 decisions in the first half.
“Is this the best performance by a losing team that we’ve seen so far?” asks Charles Antaki. “Or should I say by a team that must inevitably concede again and go on to lose by another Cristiano teeth-grittingly too-easy goal?” Gah, enough of your fatalism, Charles. I’m saying Morocco get the equaliser they’ve been threatening. OK, possibly before conceding again to antother Cristiano teeth-grittingly too-easy goal.
Half-time: Portugal 1-0 Morocco
Ronaldo took advantage of shoddy Moroccan defending to send his country into an early lead. But since then Morocco have been well on top: they’re strong, vibrant and technically excellent. But they just can’t find a killer touch in front of goal. It was a similar story against Iran (without conceding an early goal). It must be painfully frustrating for Moroccan fans watching their team do so much so well but failing with the most important bit. But there is still time for them to get it right ...
45 min: Ziyech stands over a freekick near the corner flag on the right. It’s a beautiful delivery. Belhanda get a glancing header on it. It’s not going in, but Benatia may be able to get a foot to it at the back post. No! It drops just beyond the Moroccan and continues out of play, much to Portugal’s relief.
Updated
42 min: Morocco infiltrate down the right again. Amrabat has Guerreiro on a rack. The Watford man cross low from the byline. Portugal scramble it away. It’s been a recurring them, Morocco getting behind the Portuguese defence - especially down the left - but unable to find a man in the box.
Updated
39 min: The ball comes to Ronaldo about five yards outside the Moroccan box. He takes it on his chest and then lifts it over the defence into the path of Guedes. He’s clean through! The striker tries to guide a shot over El Kajoui but the goalkeeper stands tall and bats the ball away with one hand. Guedes should have left him with no chance there.
38 min: Ziyech flies down the left and looks up to see who’s in the box in anticipation of a cross. The answer is no one. Boutaib eventually arrives but it’s too few, too late.
Updated
36 min: Belhanda slips as he tries to tackle Guerreiro. Freekick to Portugal. Curiously, that was in exactly the same spot - out near the touchline - where Amrabat slipped earlier. Is there a patch of wet grass there? An oil slick?
34 min: After dextrous approach play by Morocco, Ahmadi ties to rifle a shot into the net from nearly 30 yards. Instead he offers a souvenir to someone in Row Z.
32 min: Ronaldo takes several deep breaths, caresses his thighs and adjusts his shorts .... then curs his freekick into the wall. Moroccan fans jeer with delight and relief.
Updated
31 min: Trouble for Morocco! They’ve conceded a freekick two yards outside their box, a little to the left. Wonder who’ll take it?
Updated
30 min: Portugal are pressurised into giving up possession quickly again. Morocco pour forward anew. But they can’t find a cutting pass once they get near the box.
27 min: The replay shows that Guerreiro was tugging Amrabat’s shirt. But Amrabat grabbed his shorts. On the sidelines Renard makes a gesture to demand that VAR should be used, but all he gets for that is upbraiding from the ref.
Updated
26 min: Amrabat races on to a long ball over the top. Then he twists past Raphael Guerreiro and into the box ... before going down under desperate pressure from Guerreiro. Moroccan fans howl for a penalty! But the ref waves play on. VAR may be consulted, however ...
25 min: Ronaldo goes down and rolls around after Benatia treads on his ankle while trying to beat him to a pass near half-way. No serious damage done, Ronaldo just wanted to make sure the ref noticed the rough tackle lest it become a trend.
Updated
23 min: Ziyech has a pop with his right foot from 25 yards. He strikes it well but Patricio watches it all the way as it zips along the ground and he makes a comfortable save.
Updated
22 min: Portugal are trying to reassert their authority but by knocking the ball about for a bit but Morocco won’t let them. They’re chasing the ball relentlessly and winning it back quickly.
20 min: Ziyech arcs a corner in from the right. Ronaldo heads it away at the near post.
Updated
18 min: Moroccan pays off as they win possession mid-way inside the Portuguese half. Then they carve open their opponents, Amrabat flipping the ball through to Dirar, who is regularly breaking forward from right-back. Dirar scurries along the byline and then fires a low pass into the six-yard area. Portugal scramble it clear. But Morocco’s fightback is gaining momentum ....
16 min: Amrabat has just ripped off his skull cap in disgust after slipping as he tries to make a challenge. Evidently he was not comfortable with it but presumably he was wearing the cap on medical advice: will he be allowed to play on without it? He’s doing so at the moment.
Updated
14 min: Morocco are pressing furiously when their opponents have the ball but Portugal are playing through them pretty well, at least until they get near the Moroccan box. It’s a high-tempo game. “Ronaldo now has four goals in the race for the Golden Boot,” notes Gustav Bjorklund. “Just one behind Own Goal on five.”
12 min: Ziyech knocks a corner over to the back post. Da Costa pulls away from his marker and sends a strong downward header towards goal from seven yards. Patricio makes the save.
Updated
10 min: Ronaldo miscontrols the ball and it runs out of play. Much more of this and an investigation will be opened ...
9 min: Portugal build forward again, working the ball to Ronaldo, of course. He skips into the right-hand side of the box and lines up a shot. But he doesn’t catch it right and it trickles wide from 14 yards. He won’t sleep tonight.
Updated
6 min: This seems like an apt time to remind ourselves that the record for the most number of goals at a single World Cup tournament is 13, held by Just Fontaine since 1958. Back then, the Frenchman began his spree with a hat-trick in his first match and hit two in his next. You know Ronaldo knows that and is aiming to set a better pace. Morocco, normally so tight under Renard, need to smarten up at the back quickfast. And, of course, they also need to score now, preferably twice, at least.
Updated
GOAL! Portugal 1-0 Morocco (Ronaldo 4)
Silva takes a short corner to Moutinho, who crosses to the edge of the six-yard area. Ronaldo dives to send a superb header into the net. Morocco had left him unattended. Had they really not heard?
Updated
3 min: Silva wriggles down the right before his cross is deflected behind for a corner. He takes it himself. It’s headed away. Raphael tries to leather it into the net from long range but Da Costa heads it behind for another corner.
2 min: Amrabat, sporting that skull cap, hares down the right wing and delivers a teasing cross. It’s retrieved over on the far side by Ziyech, who sends it back into the anger zone. Boutaib gets ahead of Fonte and nods a good effort just over the bar from 10 yards. Bright start by Morocco!
Updated
1 min: Three, two, one ... we have kickoff! Morocco do the honours.
Hervé Renard strolls over to the Portuguese dugout to exchange pleasantries with his counterparts. Fernando Santos leaps to his feet to hug the Frenchman. And who wouldn’t?
Judging by the vocal accompaniment, there are more Morocco fans in the stadium than Portuguese. They fairly belted out their anthem.
For the Portuguese national anthem - which is a buoyant number - Ronaldo faces a different direction to his team-mates. Just because.
Klack-klack-klack! The studded studs march down the tunnel and out on to the pitch. Portugal are wearing all white, Morocco in their red tops with green shorts and red socks.
Updated
And here’s some breaking news: Huddersfield Town, who have four players at this World Cup, have just completed the signing of midfielder Juninho Bacuna from Groningen. He’s the brother of Reading’s Leandro Bacuna.
Updated
In the warm-up, Nordin Amrabat is wearing a skullcap - I don’t know weather he’ll still have it on after kickoff. But it’s surprising to see him play today after the head injury he suffered against Iran - he looked very discombobulated when he left the pitch after that. If he was concussed, he shouldn’t be playing today.
Updated
Today’s World Cup Fiver has a take on this, and today’s other matches. And much more besides.
As you can see from the lineups below, Portugal have made one change from the team that started against Spain, with Joao Mario replacing Bruno Fernandes. Morocco, meanwhile, have brought Nabil Dirar in at right-back and pushed Nordin Amrabat farther forward. Up front, Khalid Boutaib comes in for Ayoub El Kaabi. They’ve also made a change in central defence, as Romain Saïss drops out in favour of Manuel Da Costa, who was born in France to a Moroccan mother and Portuguese father. Who knows, perhaps similar relationships will start in the stands today? For that, too, is what the World Cup’s about.
Updated
Teams:
Portugal: Rui Patricio; Cédric, Pepe, Fonte, Raphael; B Silva, Carvalho, Moutinho, Joao Mario; Ronaldo, Guedes
Subs: Alves, M Fernandes, André Silva, Lopes, Ruben Dias. Ricardo, B Fernandes, Gleson, Rui, Quaresma Beto, Adrien Silva
Morocco: El Kajoui; Dirar, Benatia, Da Costa, Hakimi; El Ahmadi, Boussoufa; Amrabat, Belhanda Ziyech; Boutaib
Subs: Bounou, Mendyl, Saïss, El Kaabi, Harit, En Nesyri, Bouhaddouz, S Amrabat, Tagnaouti, Carcela, Ait Bennasser
Referee: M Geiger (Usa)
Updated
Preamble
Hello. Cristiano Ronaldo? Pah! Abderrazak Khairi is the man Morocco need to be thinking about today. He’s the player who scored two goals the last time the Atlas Lions and Portugal met in the World Cup, helping his country to a 3-1 win. “At times the pace and ingenuity of [Mohamed] Timoumi and Khairi as they bore down on Portugal’s defenders was reminiscent of Brazil at their best,” reported Robert Armstrong in the Guardian. Granted, that was 32 years ago and very few of the participants in today’s match were even born (although Ronaldo was, for he has always existed) but it’s something and someone from which Morocco can take inspiration as they pursue victory against the European champions in Moscow.
And Morocco really need a victory after managing to lose to Iran in the first match despite dominating the first half. “We crucified ourselves,” lamented their manager, Hervé Renard, after they fell to a late own goal by poor old Aziz Bouhaddouz. Defeat or a draw here would not eliminate Morocco immediately but would mean, at best, that they would have to upset Spain in their final game. So yes, they really need a victory today. And they know they can get one. “Where there’s a will there’s a way,” trumpeted midfielder Fayçal Fajr. “The Portuguese have two feet, two legs and they are human like us,” he continued. “Except for Ronaldo, obviously,” he didn’t add. Meanwhile, Portugal also need to win, even if their situation is not quite as urgent as Morocco’s. “I think we are stronger than Morocco if we compare the two teams but I’m not saying the game will be easy for us,” warned striker Andre Silva. “We cannot underestimate them.” They certainly can’t, not when Morocco have creators of the quality of Younès Belhanda and Hakim Ziyech, and the memory of Abderrazak Khairi. What we have here, then, is a proper World Cup showdown. Let’s be having you!
Updated
