--- title: World Cup 2018: Pepe's Flop Draws Viral Backlash description: As Morocco searched for a stoppage time equalizer against Portugal, one player's reaction earned him some online ire from World Cup fans. canonical: https://time.com/5317305/world-cup-2018-pepe-flop-portugal-morocco/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-20T18:36:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:53:29.296Z og:title: World Cup Fans Lose It Over Flop in Portugal-Morocco Game og:description: "Pepe gonna Pepe" og:url: https://time.com/5317305/world-cup-2018-pepe-flop-portugal-morocco/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfae2ea05922e8b52/698933774ee2625072312255/world-cup-2018-pepe-benatia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: World-Cup-2018-Pepe-Benatia og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: World Cup Fans Lose It Over Flop in Portugal-Morocco Game twitter:description: "Pepe gonna Pepe" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfae2ea05922e8b52/698933774ee2625072312255/world-cup-2018-pepe-benatia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # World Cup Fans Are Losing It Over Pepe's Ridiculous Flop in the Portugal-Morocco Game  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jun 20, 2018 6:36 PM UTC  Morocco's midfielder Mehdi Carcela, Portugal's defender Pepe, Morocco's defender Mehdi Benatia and Portugal's defender Jose Fonte in action during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group B football match between Portugal and Morocco at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on June 20, 2018. Morocco's midfielder Mehdi Carcela, Portugal's defender Pepe, Morocco's defender Mehdi Benatia and Portugal's defender Jose Fonte in action during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group B football match between Portugal and Morocco at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on June 20, 2018.ANTONIN THUILLIER/AFP/Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jun 20, 2018 6:36 PM UTC As Morocco desperately searched for a stoppage time equalizer to [Cristiano Ronaldo’s](http://time.com/money/5310369/cristiano-ronaldo-net-worth/) fourth-minute header during their Wednesday match against [Portugal](http://time.com/money/4979499/airbnb-portugal-viana-do-castelo/), one player’s actions earned him some ire from [World Cup](http://time.com/5317154/senegal-coach-world-cup/) fans. With time running out, Portugal defender Pepe staged a particularly egregious flop following a tap on the back from Morocco’s Medhi Benatia. The dive quickly sent soccer Twitter into a frenzy as footage of the stunt began making the online rounds. “Please keep Pepe in your prayers after this assault from Benatia,” the [World Cup Goals account](https://twitter.com/FIFAWCGoals) jokingly captioned the video. “Aaaaand the Oscar for best actor goes to Pepe!!” added another user. > [](https://twitter.com/BBCMOTD/status/1009436992583581696) > [](https://twitter.com/IkonicNumber7/status/1009461421011136513) > [](https://twitter.com/sincerelyxharry/status/1009461251397824514) Morocco went on to lose the game 1-0, becoming the first team to be eliminated from the international tournament. See some more reactions to Pepe’s dive below. > [](https://twitter.com/IkonicNumber7/status/1009461421011136513) > [](https://twitter.com/442oons/status/1009433397213659141) > [](https://twitter.com/COPA90US/status/1009433791155331079) > [](https://twitter.com/JohnKeogh1892/status/1009435881713872900) > [](https://twitter.com/JARiiseOfficial/status/1009433939688161281) > [](https://twitter.com/FootyHumour/status/1009434966122475520) > [](https://twitter.com/StevePatten/status/1009433496664858625) > [](https://twitter.com/ElNnenyM/status/1009435491605852160) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5317305/world-cup-2018-pepe-flop-portugal-morocco/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5317305/world-cup-2018-pepe-flop-portugal-morocco/"},"headline":"World Cup Fans Are Losing It Over Pepe's Ridiculous Flop in the Portugal-Morocco Game","datePublished":"2018-06-20T18:36:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:53:29.296Z","description":"\"Pepe gonna Pepe\"","url":"https://time.com/5317305/world-cup-2018-pepe-flop-portugal-morocco/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","World Cup 2018"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfae2ea05922e8b52/698933774ee2625072312255/world-cup-2018-pepe-benatia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfae2ea05922e8b52/698933774ee2625072312255/world-cup-2018-pepe-benatia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"World-Cup-2018-Pepe-Benatia","caption":"FBL-WC-2018-MATCH19-POR-MAR","creditText":"ANTONIN THUILLIER/AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5317305/world-cup-2018-pepe-flop-portugal-morocco/","name":"World Cup Fans Are Losing It Over Pepe's Ridiculous Flop in the Portugal-Morocco Game"}}]}] ```