Morocco once again surprised the football world by defeating Portugal, and becoming the first African nation in history to reach the semi-finals. A sensational quarter-final win was set up by striker Youssef En Nesyri at the end of the first half. He has scored just two goals for Sevilla this season and has the same tally at this tournament.
However, the Moroccans' main weapon is their defence, which has only conceded one goal in the tournament, and that was against Canada. Bono is the first African goalkeeper to keep clean three clean sheets at a World Cup.
The Portuguese team had statistical superiority, which is confirmed by the official numbers. They had 73% possession. But in the final reckoning, only the number of goals scored is important, and that reads 1-0 to Morocco.
The average position of the two teams is indicative of how most of the match looked. The Moroccans defended mainly in a low block in their own half and the Portuguese were the side on the ball. However, they just could not find the key to Morocco's lock.
So the battle for the world title will continue without Ronaldo. He came off the bench again in the 51st minute, making a record 196th start for the national team. In addition, he has never missed a World Cup knockout game in his career, but has also never scored a goal at this stage of the tournament. It is evident for all to see that his powers are waning.
See Morocco vs Portugal at Flashscore
The final quarter-final match between France and England offered one of the most attractive games of the tournament so far. Didier Deschamps eventually put the winning puzzle together, with midfielder Aurelien Tchouaméni putting his team in front in the first half from outside the box. Just under 8% of all goals in Qatar have come from that area, the fewest since 1966.
At the same time, it remains a fact that England have never won a World Cup match in which they were trailing at half-time. Although Harry Kane scored for England in the second half, Olivier Giroud's header proved the difference as France won 2-1. However, the key moment of the match was Kane's missed penalty in the 84th minute.
It was a great clash between two great strikers who have been in great form so far in the tournament. Kane equalled the record holder Wayne Rooney with his 53rd goal for the national team. However, he converted only one of the two penalty kicks in the match, which will keep him awake for a long time.
Antoine Griezmann was the standout figure of the match, starting most of the French team's attacking actions. The little maestro assisted both goals and his second in particular was a piece of genius. Griezmann also joined the group of players who already have three assists to their name, in addition to Kane and Bruno Fernandes.
See France vs England at Flashscore
Despite having more expected goals, England say goodbye to the tournament for the seventh time in their history in the quarter-finals. Football is still not coming home.
