Morocco became the first country from Africa to go to the World Cup semifinals, eliminating Portugal's prospects of defeating them.

 The winning goal was scored in the first half by the striker Youssef En-Nesyri, who caused chaos at Al Thumama Stadium by rising highest to beat goalkeeper Diogo Costa to the ball and head in.

The majority of the stadium was occupied by the north African team's fans, who joyfully celebrated their continent's historic achievement on the world stage.

Ronaldo came off the bench in the 50th minute to tie the men's record for most appearances in international games with 196, but he was unable to get his team back into the game.

En-header Nesyri's from Yahya Attiyat-cross Allah's gave Morocco, who will face either England or France in the semifinals, the lead just before halftime.

Only a few minutes later, Bruno Fernandes, the captain of Portugal, came agonisingly close to tying the score, but his outstanding individual effort hit the crossbar.

Devastated by injuries, Morocco sat back for the majority of the second half and the nearest they came to a goal was when Yassine Bounou expertly tipped over Joao Felix's shot.

Portugal's dreams of making the last four were shattered when Moroccan forward Walid Cheddira received a second yellow card in the eight minutes of extra time.

Watch the Morocco vs. Portugal reaction video

History is made by magnificent Moroccans

Three African teams had previously been to this World Cup level, but none had gone on to win the tournament. Before now.

The magnificent Moroccan players and supporters celebrated as En-header Nesyri's at the 42-minute mark proved to be the game-changing moment.

Every time a Portuguese player passed, the crowd would whistle and boo, and then the rowdiest area behind the goal would appear to suck the ball into the goal.

Nayef Aguerd of West Ham, Noussair Mazraoui of Bayern Munich, and captain Romain Saiss were absent from Walid Regragui's team, which also suffered an injury to Saiss early in the second half.

They have only given up once in this tournament, but they defended resolutely and frustrated Portugal to keep their sixth clean sheet in eight games under their coach.

Morocco is a formidable opponent, and with support from a partisan crowd in Doha, they will pose a tough task to anyone they meet in the semifinals.

Felix's early header was deflected away by goalkeeper Bounou, who was playing in his 50th game. A deflected shot nearly missed the target.

The chances that Morocco had on the break were better, but En-Nesyri missed two free headers and Sofiane Boufal's curling shot flew direct at Costa.

Fernando Santos substituted Ronaldo early in the second half in an attempt to salvage an equalizer, but the 37-year-old, who had already matched Kuwait forward Bader Al-record Mutawa's for international appearances, struggled to have any influence.

Ronaldo, whose team's performance on Friday saw rival Lionel Messi advance to the semifinals, was unable to achieve the same with his team on what is likely to be his final World Cup appearance, walking down the tunnel in tears at the conclusion of the game as his dream was dashed.