A solitary goal from Cristiano Ronaldo saw Portugal beat Morocco 1-0 in their second Group B match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup at Luzhniki Stadium on Wednesday afternoon

The win leaves the reigning European champions sitting at the top of the group with four points whilst the Moroccans are booted out of the competition with the loss.

Portugal went into the encounter looking to bag their first win in Group B after opening with a 3-3 draw against Spain last Friday.

For the North Africans, they wanted to earn their second win over Portugal at the World Cup, but their first in the group after losing 1-0 to Iran last week.

However, after a promising start by the Moroccans, they failed to produce a goal when Khalid Boutaib’s glancing header went over the cross bar in the second minute.

Two minutes later, the Portuguese broke the deadlock though Ronaldo from a cross on the right which the skipper finished with a powerful header, 1-0.

Although the North Africans kept pushing, Mehdi Benatia’s header was swallowed by Rui Patricio who was well positioned on the half hour mark.

Portugal went into the break leading 1-0.

Six minutes into the second half, Portugal came close to netting their second goal when an unmarked Ronaldo saw his effort sailing wide from the penalty area.

In the 57th minute, Herve Renard’s troops did everything right, but Hakim Ziyach could not beat goalkeeper Patricio with a wonderful header as the keeper produced a great reflex save.

Morocco were all over Portugal and they received successive corner kicks towards the final 10 minutes, but they could not get a goal as Nabil Dirar’s long range effort could not trouble Patricio.

With one minute to go, Ziyach cut through the Portuguese defence but his shot was deflected for a corner and Benatia also failed to keep his effort on target in the injury time.

In the end, the Atlas Lions became the first casualties at this year's tournament as they are out of the race for a knockout spot.

Portugal: (1) 1 (Ronaldo 4’)
Morocco: (0)

Portugal: Rui Patricio, Pepe, Raphael, Fonte, Ronaldo, J. Moutinho (Silva 88’), J. Mario (Fernandes 70’), Bernardo (Martins 59’), William, Guedes, Cedric

Morocco: El Kajaoui, Hakimi, Da Costa, Benatia, Ziyach, El Ahmad (Fajr 85’), Belhanda (Carcela 75’), Boutaib (El Kaabi 69’), Boussoufa, N. Amrabat, Dirar

Morocco are out to secure their first win in the 2018 FIFA World Cup as they lock horns against Portugal in Group B on Wednesday afternoon.

The Atlas Lions are hoping to bag their second win over the Europeans, whom they beat in 1986 at the World Cup in Mexico.

Although coach Herve Renard saw his men losing 1-0 to Iran last Friday in their opener, he will guide his troops to improve their defending.

Morocco dominated the proceedings in the match, but succumbed to a late goal and they are under pressure to avoid their second loss.

With the team set to miss Nordin Amrabat, who is ruled out due to concussion sustained in their loss, attacking midfielder Faycal Fajr is positive, despite the pain of conceding an own goal.

Sitting at the bottom of the table with zero points from their loss, Morocco have an uphill battle on Wednesday, whilst their opponents occupy the second spot with a point.

Moreover, the Atlas Lions will hope to repeat history and beat the Portuguese at Mexico 1986 as Fajr said their football is not dead.

“I am not going to talk about all Portuguese players. We also have good players and we will do everything to upset them! Achraf Hakimi knows Cristiano well, he will tell us about him,” he said.

“We have started the game well (against Iran), but we did not seize the opportunities.

“We believe it anyway! If I tell you that I do not believe it, what are you going to say? We are not dead, we only want to go back in this game!

“We know it will be difficult (against Portugal), but we will do everything to make a good result!.”

A look at the Navigators, Portugal are also under pressure to secure a win after a thrilling 3-3 draw against Spain last week.

However, coach Fernando Santos will hope his men improve their defending after taking an early lead against La Roja, only to chase the game to settle for a point.

However, the coach will bank on skipper Cristiano Ronaldo, who was in an uncompromising mood last week after netting the first hat-trick of this year’s global showpiece.

The clash will be staged on Wednesday afternoon at Stadion Luzhiniki in Moscow at 14:00 (CAT).