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World Cup rewind: Goodbye, Morocco

By Jake Walerius

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - JUNE 20: Herve Renard, Head coach of Morocco walks of the pitch the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group B match between Portugal and Morocco at Luzhniki Stadium on June 20, 2018 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
MOSCOW, RUSSIA - JUNE 20: Herve Renard, Head coach of Morocco walks of the pitch the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group B match between Portugal and Morocco at Luzhniki Stadium on June 20, 2018 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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If you haven’t heard, there’s a World Cup going on. We’re here to help, with a daily recap of the biggest news.

The seventh day of the World Cup saw the first wave of eliminations, none more cruel than that of Morocco, who lost to Portugal at the Luzhniki Stadium, Cristiano Ronaldo heading in the winner, his fourth of the competition, after only four minutes.

Herve Renard’s side dominated for long stretches of the match, as they did against Iran in their first game, but struggled to create clear-cut chance and once more suffered for their defending on set-pieces.

The Moroccans earned plenty of fans for their performances, though Renard’s post-match comments on his decision to start Nordin Amrabat, only four days after the player was knocked unconscious against Iran, went down less well.

The day also saw plenty of discussion of Cristiano Ronaldo’s latest attempt to state his case as the greatest player of all time, this time by growing a goatee. Whatever he’s doing is clearly working, but also what he’s doing in this case is very, very stupid.

Saudi Arabia’s loss to Uruguay later in the day meant they and Egypt were also eliminated. The two sides will face off in the final match in Group A, while Uruguay take on Russia to determine who finishes first in the group.

Next: The best player on every team at the World Cup

Wednesday’s matches concluded with Spain taking on Iran, knowing anything but a win would leave them in a very precarious position heading into the final round of group games. They got, just about, thanks to another goal from Diego Costa, but it wasn’t pretty.

Carlos Queiroz’s side played with 11 men behind the ball more or less until they went behind early in the second half, at which point they had a goal disallowed for offside and then went close on several other occasions. Who knew getting forward led to chances?

Thursday’s action kicks off in Samara, where Denmark play Australia (8 a.m. ET). That’s followed by France vs. Peru at 11 a.m. ET. The final match of the day is the most intriguing, as Argentina look to bounce back from their draw with Iceland against group leaders Croatia.

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