Ronaldo stays on the bench for Portugal

Portugal has left captain Cristiano Ronaldo out of their starting line-up again keeping hat-trick hero Goncalo Ramos in the team for Saturday's World Cup quarter-final against Morocco.

Ronaldo, Portugal's all-time leading goal scorer with 118 goals in 195 appearances, was benched on the previous match Tuesday, where his country got a 6-1 win over Switzerland in the last 16, reports Reuters. 

Ramos, his 21-year-old replacement, scored three in only his fourth appearance for the national team.

The Portugal skipper was upset at being left out by coach Fernando Santos on the eve of the game, and Portugal's football federation then had to deny reports that he had threatened to leave the tournament.

Portugal coach Santos made one change on Saturday after that convincing win, with Ruben Neves in for William Carvalho, while his Morocco counterpart Walid Regragui was forced to shuffle his defence after Nayef Aguerd and Noussair Mazraoui were ruled out by injury.

The absence of both is a major blow, with Yahia Attiat Allah in at left back for Mazraoui and Jawad El Yamiq replacing Aguerd.

There had also been concern over the fitness of captain Romain Saiss and midfielder Sofyan Amrabat, but both will play.

Teams:

Morocco: Yassine Bounou, Achraf Hakimi, Romain Saiss, Jawad El Yamiq, Yahya Attiat-Allah, Sofyan Amrabat, Selim Amallah, Azzedine Ounahi, Hakim Ziyech, Soufiane Boufal, Youssef En-Nesyri