Morocco look set to be packing their bags and heading home after Wednesday’s Group B match as it is difficult to see the Lions of the Atlas avoiding defeat against Cristiano Ronaldo and co.

Herve Renartd’s team had been tipped to do well in Russia and possibly pip Portugal to second spot in the group but their poor display, after an initially bright opening, in the 1-0 loss to Iran has all but ended their hopes of progressing.

Portugal 23.50 to win the World Cup

Portugal performed above expectations against Spain in the six-goal thriller on Friday but remain at long odds to win the tournament, even though they have Ronaldo in their ranks and lifted the European Championship two years ago.

They showed great character to hit back to draw against Spain and the team is built to get the best out of Ronaldo, in contrast to the likes of Argentina who appear to be almost solely reliant on Lionel Messi, to the detriment of the Barcelona man’s talents.

Quaresma 8.00 to be the first goalscorer

Ronaldo, who of course scored a hat-trick for Fernando Santos’ side against Spain, is 3.50 to score the first goal against Morocco but it may be worth looking elsewhere for more value. Ricardo Quaresma, who almost grabbed a winner for Portugal in that incredible match against Spain, could be the man to take a punt on.

Portugal 5.95 to beat Morocco 1-0

Portugal, aside from Ronaldo, are a functional rather than extravagant team while Morocco are strong defensively – after scraping through an opening two-legged tie against Equatorial Guinea 2-1, they did not concede another goal during their qualifying campaign.

If Portugal get an early goal they may well sit on their lead rather than press on for a big win so a 1-0 victory for Santos’ men should be snapped up while the odds on there being under 1.5 goals in the match are 2.95.