Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal of the game to send Nordin Amrabat’s Morocco crashing out of the World Cup.

The Portuguese forward took his tally for the tournament in Russia to four goals with a well taken diving header inside four minutes in Moscow.

Amrabat was a surprise inclusion in the Morocco starting line-up after being deemed to have recovered from a concussion suffered against Iran on Friday.

The Watford man was one of his country’s better players and was particularly effective in a first half where he got forward well on the right.

However, some wasteful finishing ensured Ronaldo’s effort was enough to condemn Morocco to their second 1-0 defeat on the spin.

Ronaldo's header put him second on the all-time international goals list with 85 goals, now he only sits behind former Iran international Ali Daei, with 109.

He came close to doubling Portugal's lead just after the half-hour mark but fired his free-kick straight into the wall.

Morocco enjoyed a few spells of impressive build-up play but could not finish.

Ronaldo fired a long-range effort over the crossbar eight minutes after the break, while - at the other end - Morocco battled for a goal in a bid to get a result.

Younes Belhanda had two efforts in quick succession saved by Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio just before the hour, while captain Mehdi Benatia's free-kick hit the crossbar with Morocco's 11th shot of the game.

Benatia fired just over the bar as Morocco searched for an equaliser at the death but Portugal held on to claim a narrow 1-0 win to move top of the group for a few hours at least.

Amrabat will hope to at least take some reward from Morocco’s time in Russia when taking on Spain on Monday.