DOHA—Morocco’s extraordinary run in Qatar continued on Saturday as they claimed another massive scalp in beating Portugal 1-0 to become the first African and Arab country to reach the World Cup semi-finals. The result could also go a long way towards vindicating the controversial decision to host the tournament in the Middle East. It is a result with major significance for the world game, providing proof that the gap between the top teams and the rest is closing and handing new hope to many countries who might have felt World Cup success was beyond them. Saturday’s victory for Morocco comes on top of their win over second-ranked Belgium in the group phase and penalty shootout success against Spain in the last 16. Portugal had been runaway favorites on Saturday and will consider the defeat as a missed opportunity.
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