WATCH: Morocco's wild celebrations spilling from pitch, dressing room and into the streets after defeating Portugal
- Morocco beat Portugal to reach World Cup semis
- It was a history-making moment for Africa
- This was followed by wild celebrations caught on camera
WHAT HAPPENED? Youssef En-Nesyri’s goal three minutes before half-time saw the Atlas Lions flooring Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in this quarter-final contest. It was an amazing effort by Morocco who ended the match with 10 men following the red card to substitute Walid Cheddira. Even with their numerical disadvantage, Walid Regragui’s men held on to frustrate the Portuguese.
The huge feat torched celebrations starting on the pitch, including Sofiane Boufal dancing with his mother. The North Africans’ dressing room was also lit as players enjoyed their moment. Streets in Qatar and Casablanca also witnessed wonderful celebrations.
“It is a Morrocan marvel.”
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) December 11, 2022
“The African continent believes.”
Peter Drury had us in our feels with this one 🎙👇#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/ajq3FtUm5a
Football commentator Peter Drury was left awestruck by Morocco's victory.
𝗙𝗔𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗬 𝗖𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗖𝗢 💃
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) December 11, 2022
There's nothing like a mother's love for Sofiane Boufal 😍🇲🇦 pic.twitter.com/RgyP7WLzOh
Nothing like a mother's love. Sofiane Boufal's mother had to join her son and his teammates in celebrating on the pitch.
"Maybe it's coming home to Africa" 👀
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) December 10, 2022
📺 Stream the #FIFAWorldCup live: https://t.co/Tg69y0m5GD pic.twitter.com/9yT6VyD5ni
The Atlas Lions' dressing room was lit as players celebrated.
A night to remember for all Africans 🌍
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) December 10, 2022
Here’s what Amrabat had to say about the performance and the historic result.#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/sQ79cC66ig
Captain Sofyan Amrabat says they deserved to be in the World Cup semi-finals 1000%.
Celebrations are everywhere pic.twitter.com/4yfBPs6OnE
— Jalal Bounouar (@BounouarJalal) December 10, 2022
Fans were enjoying themselves celebrating the victory.
I assume Morocco beat Portugal... pic.twitter.com/4Ap4kPk6Pa
— Iain Davenport (@D0dgyDav0) December 10, 2022
There were street parties as Morocco made people's evening. Even Senegal fans joined Morocco supporters in celebrating.
Here’s a quick recap of how Morocco beat Portugal to become the #FIFAWorldCup’s first-ever African semi-finalists 👇 pic.twitter.com/LkT1RUVoIm
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) December 10, 2022
Energy 🤌🇲🇦 🤝 🇸🇳 Historic moment as Morocco beat Portugal 1-0 making them the first African team to make it to a World Cup semi-final
— Link Up TV (@linkuptv) December 10, 2022
♻️ fatimazohra_retal pic.twitter.com/DTiVEglQVC
THE BIGGER PICTURE: It was a massive victory for Morocco who were participating at this stage of the World Cup for the first time ever. They further extended their piece of history by becoming the first African team to reach the semi-finals of this global football tournament.
It is now to be seen how far Caf’s World Cup participants will fare at the next edition of the global football quadrennial tournament in 2026.
WHAT NEXT FOR MOROCCO? Morocco are preparing to face defending champions France in the semi-finals at Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday. Having already defeated the likes of Belgium, Spain and Portugal in this tournament, there would be belief in the Morocco camp that victory over France is also possible.