One the tournament's star performers so far picked up where he left off after his hat-trick against Spain in Portugal's opening 3-3 Group B draw, heading Fernando Santos' men into an early lead with a goal that moved him to 85 international goals - one ahead of the legendary Ferenc Puskas in the all-time standings.
Morocco coach Renard came into the game having seen his players denied a point after dominating much of their opening encounter against Iran and they were largely the better side here too, keeping Portugal on the back foot and quelling the threat of Ronaldo for long periods.
Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal disputes as Dirar from Morocco during the match at the Lujniki stage during the 2018 World Cup championship. Source: Ale Cabral / AGIF (via AP)
Morocco will have the chance to restore some pride by claiming a result from their final Group B game against Spain and will then head home disappointed not to have had more to show for two good displays in Russia, while Portugal took a huge step towards the last 16.
Meanwhile,
Egypt eliminated from World Cup after only two matches
Egypt arrived in Russia with Mohamed Salah and some high expectations.
The team, playing at the World Cup for the first time since 1990, was sure it had the ability to grind out results, even with Salah still recovering from a shoulder injury. But after two matches, the Egyptians were eliminated.
"I always say that behind a player there must be a team," Egypt coach Hector Cuper said after Tuesday's 3-1 loss to host Russia. "I feel proud we had a team, but perhaps we weren't decisive enough."
Salah was hurt last month in the Champions League final. He dressed for the opening match, but sat on the bench as Egypt held Uruguay scoreless for 89 minutes.
Egypt star Mohamed Salah Source: Getty Images
Eventually, however, Uruguay scored and won.
Salah started the second match against Russia and even scored from the penalty spot, but the host nation also proved to be too much.
Those two losses combined with wins for both Russia and Uruguay over Saudi Arabia confirmed the team's elimination despite one final Group A match on Monday.
Most of the expectation, and pretty much all of the hype, had been placed on the shoulders of the 26-year-old Salah, who scored 44 goals in 51 games for Liverpool and was named Premier League player of the year.
