Now the battle really begins

Morocco vs Portugal

The Portuguese proved that the Cristiano Ronaldo soap opera can't cramp their style in the 6-1 annihilation of Switzerland. With the stifling presence of the 'Incredible Sulk' now banished to the bench, the shackles are off for the likes of Joao Felix, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Rafael Leao and Ronaldo's hat-trick hero replacement, Goncalo Ramos. Portugal's sumptuous brand of football against the Swiss was up there with Brazil's swashbuckling best. Portugal somehow rarely figured in people's pre-tournament predictions, which is all the more odd considering it probably boasts the best central defensive pairing at the tournament — Manchester City's Ruben Dias and Pepe, now of Porto. The 39-year-old Pepe is a veteran of four World Cups and Portugal's championship-winning team at Euro 2016, but his age-defying excellence is usually overshadowed by the Ronaldo roadshow. Portugal will need all Pepe's know-how to negotiate bigger tests that almost certainly lie ahead in Qatar. After outlasting an uninspired Spain in the last 16, Morocco deserves all the plaudits for its fairytale run. Paris Saint-Germain's Achraf Hakimi netted the Atlas Lions' winning penalty against Spain. As one of the finest rightbacks in the world right now, the rampaging Hakimi will no doubt spearhead another lionhearted effort against Portugal, but knocking out a second Iberian country seems a bridge too far for the north Africans. Just don't tell that to Morocco head coach Walid Regragui, who said: "No one is giving up. Everyone's playing with bandages, everyone is trying to raise their level of play and mentality. We succeeded in creating a family, and we feel there's a whole country behind us."