Portugal will renew their World Cup rivalry with Morocco with a place in the semi-finals at stake as they look to avoid the wrath of Fernando Santos.
The African nation continued to make waves in Qatar, adding Spain to their list of scalps. Morocco beat Belgium in the group stages and then battled past the 2010 world champions with a penalty shootout victory on Tuesday night.
Portugal's route was far more routine with Goncalo Ramos making headlines with a sensational hat-trick after replacing the dropped Cristiano Ronaldo in the starting XI. Four years ago though it was the former Manchester United man who scored the winner for his country against Morocco.
That success came during the group stages with Ronaldo notching the game's winning goal within the opening five minutes. Morocco, like they have proved throughout this tournament, were a far more challenging prospect than many would have anticipated.
So much so that they felt somewhat aggrieved that they didn't claim anything from the group clash. Morocco, who were led then by Herve Renard, the man who masterminded Saudi Arabia's win over Argentina, dominated all the stats. They had more possession and shots then their opponents, who were then the Euro holders.
Santos lamented his side's lack of control, which he was lost for words to explain. He said: "We have to look at this and we have to talk about it. We lost control of the game, we misplaced a lot of passes, we lost confidence. It was inexplicable. If in a match against players like they have, if you don't have the ball, they will wear you down and you get into trouble."
Jose Fonte, who played at the heart of defence, said: "Of course, no World Cup match is easy even against teams that are theoretically weaker. Today, again it was the same situation. They are a team which caused a lot of trouble. We knew how to suffer."
Morocco have by no means made much of an impression in recent Africa Cup of Nations, but have impressed at this World Cup. They've copped criticism from some for their approach to the last 16 win over Spain, with Manchester City's Rodri lamenting their negative approach.
The Africans are not short of quality however with PSG's Achraf Hakimi nonchalantly converting their winning penalty. Chelsea's Hakim Ziyech will also have a vital role to play if Morocco are to continue their impressive World Cup campaign.
"We fought and made the Moroccan people happy, we made history and Morocco deserve it, Moroccan people made us united on the pitch," coach Walid Regragui said after their Spanish success as they look to write further history.
