We have reached the quarter final stage of the 2022 World Cup and the first match to be played on the 10th of December is between Morocco and Portugal. The game will be played at Al Thumama Stadium, Doha and this is the final game of the tournament at this venue.
Morocco come into the game having caused an upset by seeing off Spain in the round of 16. The match ended 0-0 at full time, with both teams missing chances to score goals.
فرحة تأهل المنتخب الوطني لربع نهاية كأس العالم 🤩Moroccan fans warmly welcome the National Team after their qualification to the quarter-finals 🥳#DimaMaghrib 🇲🇦 #TeamMorocco #FIFAWorldCup @pumafootball pic.twitter.com/zwm3ZRgrUB— Équipe du Maroc (@EnMaroc) December 6, 2022
فرحة تأهل المنتخب الوطني لربع نهاية كأس العالم 🤩Moroccan fans warmly welcome the National Team after their qualification to the quarter-finals 🥳#DimaMaghrib 🇲🇦 #TeamMorocco #FIFAWorldCup @pumafootball pic.twitter.com/zwm3ZRgrUB
Into extra time and again, both teams had the opportunity to score, with Spain hitting the outside of the post at the end. The match went to a penalty shootout and Morocco goalkeeper Bono was the hero, saving three Spanish penalties in a row to send his team through to the quarter final.
Outside of extra time, penalty shootout and friendly fixtures, Morocco are on an impressive unbeaten run of 41 games inside 90 minutes.
They are undefeated at all 4 matches of the 2022 World Cup, starting with a 0-0 draw against Croatia. That was followed by a tremendous 2-0 win over Belgium and a 2-1 victory over Canada in the final group match.
Trends show Morocco have kept 3 cleans sheets in 4 games at the 2022 World Cup but have failed to find the back of the net in 2 of those 4 matches.
Portugal fwill be feeling extremely confident coming into this quarter final having demolished Switzerland 6-1 in their round of 16 game. Fernando Santos decided to drop Cristiano Ronaldo in favour of Goncalo Ramos and it worked brilliantly as the 21 year old striker scored a hattrick.
Portugal opened the scoring after 17 minutes and were 2-0 up at half time. The goals flowed after the interval, with Portugal scoring 4 times in the second half.
Trends show Portugal have not been beaten in 67 of their 77 most recent matches in all competitions. They have won 3 of their 4 games at the 2022 World Cup, starting with an exciting 3-2 win over Ghana.
That was followed by a good 2-0 victory over Uruguay which booked Portugal’s place in the round of 16. Portugal lost their final group match to South Korea having made several changes to their starting XI.
Team news and Morocco have doubts over the fitness of defensive duo Romain Saiss and Nayef Aguerd.
Portugal are without Danilo Pereira but are likely to go with the same starting XI from the win over Switzerland, meaning Ronaldo will be on the bench.
Morocco need their central defensive duo of Saiss and Aguerd to be fit. Even with both in the team, they are going to face a fluid Portuguese attack and will look to soak up pressure and hit on the counterattack.
It worked to prevent Spain from scoring but Portugal look a different prospect and just one goal could be enough for the Portuguese to win and progress to the semi-final.