France's defender Theo Hernandez celebrates, with France's forward Olivier Giroud running behind, after scoring his team's first goal during the semi-final match on December 14, 2022. (Photo by Adrian Dennis / AFP)
Defending champions France brought an end to Morocco’s dream run in Qatar, beating the North Africans 2-0 to set up Sunday’s World Cup showdown against Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
France took an early lead in the second semi-final with Theo Hernandez scoring in the fifth minute to stun the Moroccan supporters, who created a cauldron-like atmosphere at Al Bayt Stadium packed with 68,294 spectators last night.
Morocco, who conceded the first goal from an opposition player and trailed for the first time in Qatar, tried hard for an equaliser but France captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris made a couple of good saves in the first half to keep his team’s lead intact.
The Atlas Lions returned with more aggression in the second half and created several opportunities but failed to score, with substitute Randal Kolo Muani sealing the victory for France, 11 minutes before time.
The final will be played at iconic Lusail Stadium with France hoping to become the first side to win back-to-back World Cup titles since Brazil in 1962.
“There’s emotion, there’s pride, there’s going to be a final step, we’ve been together with the players for a month, it’s never easy, there’s happiness so far,” said France coach Didier Deschamps.
“Playing two World Cup finals in a row is an incredible moment. We did a good job, it was hard, but we are in the final. We will work hard to win this final,” said Hernandez.
Despite the defeat, Walid Regragui’s Morocco have plenty of reasons to smile as they became the first team to represent Africa and the Arab world at a World Cup semi-final.
They topped their group as underdogs, beating the likes of second-ranked Belgium before pulling off shock wins over Spain and Portugal in the knockout stage, giving hopes of a bright future to African and Arab football.
“We gave the maximum, that’s the most important,” said Regragui.
“We had some injuries, we lost Aguerd in the warm-up, Saiss, Mazraoui at halftime. We paid for the slightest mistake. We didn’t get into the game well, we had too much technical waste in the first half, and the second goal kills us, but that doesn’t take away everything we did before.”
Morocco will meet Croatia at Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday with an aim to secure third place and end their memorable journey in Qatar on a winning note.
Backed by partisan crowd last night, Regragui’s side dominated the possession but they failed to match Deschamps team’s scoring prowess as both sides took three shots on target in the high-intensity semi-final.
Les Bleus countered boos and whistles from the sea of red every time they took the ball. But as Deschamps said his team was ready to cope up with the pressure from the crowd and they were in business right away.
It was Antoine Griezmann, who initiated the attack after Morocco’s spell with the ball as he picked Kylian Mbappe, who missed his first strike and then saw his second attempt deflected towards Hernandez.
The AC Milan defender did a fine job to get over the top of the bouncing ball with an angular strike beating two defenders and goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
The Atlas Lions responded well as they trailed for the first time in the tournament and Azzedine Ounahi had a superb shot from 25 yards but Lloris was equally impressive as he clawed away the strike with a dive.
Morocco were having the ball possession and were pressing for the goal with Sofiane Boufal showing impressive runs but France were hardly flawed in defence with Jules Kounde also doing well at the back.
Captain Romain Saiss – picked in starting side by Regragui – had to return after struggling for the first 21 minutes with Selim Amallah coming in as replacement.
With French veteran Olivier Giroud missing a couple of chances in the first half, Jawad El Yamiq almost scored a spectacular equaliser with a bicycle kick following the corner but Lloris again made a diving save tipping the ball away for a corner.
Mbappe threatened Morocco defence with his surges early in the second half before the North Africans started creating spaces in France’s area. Boufal was showing good runs as Morocco were creating problems for France at the back, yet they were missing the cutting edge.
They made at least eight attempts for a goal in the final session.
Muani, however, sealed victory for France after firing in an open goal following an assist from Mbappe.
Deschamps celebrated the goal embracing an official in the dug-out thinking how to stop Messi and Argentina on Sunday.
