Cristiano Ronaldo will never win the World Cup but an African team just might. A tournament that began with a historic feat by the only man to score in five World Cups now has another first and may yet end with a still greater achievement. Morocco have become Africa’s maiden semi-finalists and Walid Regragui, the manager who encouraged his country to dream, has given them reason to believe the greatest World Cup shock of all is possible.
Portugal join Spain among their victims. Like Belgium and Croatia before them, they were blunted by Moroccan obduracy, with the Atlas Lions’ fourth clean sheet the most remarkable: not because Ronaldo, the scorer of 819 career goals, came off the bench but because they ended with only Achraf Hakimi of their first-choice back four.
