The north Africans became the first Arab-speaking country to reach the last eight of the tournament by eliminating Spain thanks to a couple of saves from Yassine Bounou in a 3-0 penalty shoot-out victory after the match had finished goalless at the end of normal and extra time.
Portugal produced one of the best performances of the World Cup in a 6-1 victory over Switzerland thanks to a hat-trick from Goncalo Ramos, who started instead of skipper Cristiano Ronaldo, and they are now 6/1 in the World Cup winner odds.
It promises to be a fascinating and possibly cagey contest, so let’s look at the main talking points in our Morocco vs Portugal betting tips.
Portugal have weapons to threaten Morocco defence
Morocco surprisingly topped Group F thanks to a goalless draw with Croatia and a 2-0 victory over Belgium, but the strength of their team lies in defence which has conceded just once at the World Cup, an own goal in a 2-1 victory over Canada.
The Atlas Lions restricted Spain to just one shot on target over 120 minutes and are expected to sit deep once again when they face Portugal, who have found a new hero in the shape of Ramos.
Spain dominated possession against Morocco just as Belgium did in the group phase, but their approach play was too predictable and without a Plan B they struggled to break down a resolute back line, although they went close in the third minute of injury time in extra time when Pablo Sarabia struck the outside of the post from a tight angle.
Portugal, though, threatened to score with every attack against the Swiss in a match which saw Fernando Santos’ massive gamble to drop Ronaldo pay off as Ramos scored the first hat-trick of the World Cup.
The Selecao’s fluid attack looked unstoppable without the pressure of having to feed Ronaldo, whose role for the rest of the World Cup has “yet to be defined”, suggesting he will be on the bench again.
We picked out Morocco to win or draw at 6/5 against Spain as one of our selections and suggested a 0-0 draw had its merits at 7/1, so hopefully we will have more success with this quarter-final which could be another low-scoring affair just as it was at the 2018 World Cup when Ronaldo scored the only goal of the second group-stage game in the fourth minute.
Spain lacked pace and strength to break down Morocco on Tuesday, but that was something Portugal had in spades on the same day when 39-year-old defender Pepe became the oldest goalscorer in World Cup knockout history when he headed in Bruno Fernandes’ inswinging corner to give his side a 2-0 first-half lead.
Former Manchester United striker Ronldo, now a free agent, is unlikely to start the game having irritated Santos for his reaction to being substituted in the 2-1 defeat by South Korea which may have swayed the head coach to leave him on the bench against Switzerland.
The Atletico Madrid attacker scored Portugal’s second in a 3-2 victory over Ghana and looked transformed without Ronaldo in the team on Tuesday.
Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri is viewed as the likeliest of the Morocco contingent to draw first blood at 17/2 or 7/2 to score, while Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech is 11/1 and 9/2.
The 2016 European champions are 9/1 to get the job done in extra time or 11/1 in a penalty shoot-out, the same price as Morocco, who can be backed at 20/1 in the World Cup betting to win during the additional 30 minutes.
Three of Morocco’s four games have been goalless at the break and that option looks a possibility at 7/5, with a level first half priced at evens.
