Portugal will attempt to move closer to the knock-out stage on Wednesday as they take on Group B rivals Morocco at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
Fernando Santos’ side played out a thrilling 3-3 draw in their opening match against Iberian rivals Spain, with a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick securing a valuable point for the Selecao.
They will be buoyed by that performance and no doubt eager to collect all three points against Morocco, which would set them up nicely for their final game of the group against Iran.
Overview
One week in and this is already gearing up to be Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup. Arriving in Russia with a point to prove having scored just three times overall in three previous tournaments, he doubled that tally in one game against Spain. That Portugal got a draw from a match in which Spain were largely dominant was down almost solely to him.
Aside from rubbing salt in the wounds of their Iberian rivals following the sacking of Spain coach Julen Lopetegui, Ronaldo’s late equaliser puts Portugal in a strong position to qualify for the knockout stage if they beat Morocco, in just the second meeting between the two nations.
However, a small but significant portion of history is on Morocco’s side. They beat Portugal 3-1 in the group stage of the 1986 World Cup; it was Morocco’s first ever win at the tournament and Portugal’s only World Cup loss against African opposition.
It is a feat the Atlas Lions need to repeat; a second loss of this tournament, coupled with a positive result in the game between Spain and Iran, and Morocco are out.
Head-to-head
- Their only previous meeting came at the 1986 World Cup. Morocco’s 3-1 victory was their first ever win in the tournament.
About Portugal
- Portugal have not lost against a non-European nation at the World Cup since June 2002 (W5, D3), in a 1-0 defeat to South Korea.
- Against Spain, Cristiano Ronaldo became just the fourth player to score in four World Cups, after Uwe Seeler, Pele and Miroslav Klose.
- It was Ronaldo’s 51st hat-trick and the 51st in World Cup history.
- At 33 years and 130 days, it made Ronaldo the oldest scorer of a hat-trick in a World Cup.
- Ronaldo’s third goal drew him level with Ferenc Puskas as the second-highest scorer in the history of international football with 84 goals. Only Iran’s Ali Daei (109) has scored more.
- Before the opening match, Ronaldo had scored just three goals in 13 World Cup appearances.
About Morocco
- Morocco had 68% possession in their 1-0 defeat to Iran, the most by a losing team in a World Cup match since June 2010, when Spain had 73% possession against Switzerland, but lost 1-0.
- The Atlas Lions did not face a single shot in the second half of that game, but lost to a 95th minute own goal.
- Aziz Bouhaddouz became just the third substitute to score an own-goal in a World Cup match. The others are Hungary’s Laszlo Dajka in 1986 (against USSR) and Portugal’s Petit in 2006 (versus Germany).
Team Comparison and History
Predictions
Football experts at The Independent thinks : Portugal 2-0 Morocco. Ronaldo looks on it, make no mistake about it. Just look at how he bullies smaller teams in the Champions League to get a taster of what he could do in the remaining two games in this group. It is feasible Portugal qualify for the Round of 16 with Ronaldo on six or seven goals personally.
Probable Line-ups
Portugal’s predicted line-up vs Morocco
Japan’s predicted line-up vs Colombia
Probable Playing XI
Portugal: Rui Patricio; Guerreiro, Fonte, Pepe, Cedric; Moutinho, Carvalho, B. Silva, Mario; Guedes, Ronaldo.
Morocco: Munir; Hakimi, Saiss, Benatia, S. Amrabat; El Ahmadi, Boussoufa, Belhanda, Harit, Ziyech; El Khaabi.