Cristiano Ronaldo: Morocco's En-nesyri Betters His Iconic Header In World Cup Upset

Youssef En-Nesyri wrote himself into Moroccan footballing folklore on Saturday afternoon with a crucial goal as the Atlas Lions upset Portugal in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

The 25-year-old hung in the air in incredible fashion to pip Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Costa to the ball for the game’s only goal.

His herculean effort was enough to see Morocco become the first African nation ever to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup. However, the towering header also resulted in En-Nesyri claiming some individual bragging rights from five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

Back in December 2019, an almost 35-year-old Ronaldo sent his legions of fans around the world wild when he soared to a gravity-defying 8.39 ft (2.56m) to head the ball into the net for Juventus against Sampdoria.

Claudio Ranieri, who was Sampdoria boss at the time, later claimed Ronaldo had pulled off “something that you see in the NBA” joking that the Portuguese superstar had propelled himself “up in the air for an hour-and-a-half” when meeting Alex Sandro’s cross at the back post.

You can check out Ronaldo’s extraordinary leap in slow-motion below.

Video: Cristiano Ronaldo’s outrageous header v Sampdoria
A truly sublime piece of athleticism, we’re sure you’ll agree!

Now, while there are no official statistics to prove whether the header above was actually a world record, we do know that Ronaldo’s gargantuan leap was bettered this weekend by En-Nesyri’s match-winning header.

Per a tweet sent out by the team at beIN Sports, the Sevilla frontman leapt to a frankly ridiculous 9.12ft (2.78m) to secure his country’s place in the semi-finals in Qatar.

En-Nesyri didn’t just better Ronaldo’s jump against Sampdoria, he absolutely starched it!

During ITV Sport’s coverage of the quarter-final, commentator Jon Champion even called the header “Ronaldo-esque”.

You can relive the history-making moment in all its glory below.

Video: El-Nesyri betters iconic Ronaldo goal
Granted, goalkeeper Costa should probably have done more to keep the header out of his net but you simply cannot fault En-Nesyri’s sheer desire to reach the ball ahead of his opponent.

The camera soon panned to Ronaldo’s face on the Portuguese bench. It was clear he knew he’d witnessed something special, although he almost certainly wasn’t aware of just how special.

Can Morocco win the 2022 World Cup?
While it’s hard to overstate the magnitude of the achievement of Walid Regragui’s side in reaching the semi-finals of the tournament, they still remain the rank outsiders to lift the trophy itself.

In their favour, though, is the fact that no opposition player has managed to score against them in five matches at the World Cup.

Incredibly, Morocco have registered clean sheets against each of Croatia, Belgium, Spain and Portugal, with their sole goal conceded being a Nayef Aguerd own-goal against Canada.

If the African nation continues to play with the unity and efficiency they have done so far in the competition, you write them off at your peril.