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France will face Argentina on Sunday in the FIFA World Cup final after defeating Morocco 2-0 tonight in the semi-finals.
With the tournament’s best defense and arguably most effective attack taking on each other, the game was a contest of tactics and playing philosophy. France came with the weight and aura of world champions, while Morocco sought to extend its widely celebrated tale of the underdog upsetting the footballing status quo.
France opened the scoring through Theo Hernandez early in the first half of the match, taking advantage of a rare moment of panic in Morocco’s usually impregnable defensive setup and forcing the Atlas Lions to create more space as they chased an equalizer.
But Morocco mostly stayed put after France’s goal, with Sofyan Amrabat and Azzedine Ounahi ever eager to take the game to France and dictate more tempo, assurance, and belief for a Moroccan squad now tasked with the difficult assignment of containing France’s quick transitions while scoring a much-needed equalizing goal.
Taking up the challenge of bringing Morocco back in the game, Ounahi attempted an exquisite long-distance strike that forced the game’s first save from France’s goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
With over 60% of ball possession for Morocco and multiple passes, the Atlas Lion Hakim Ziyech made an eye-catching attempt in the 16 minute of the game but it soon ended with a counterattack from France led by Olivier Giroud.
Giroud was close to scoring a second goal for the French team but the AC Milan striker ended up hitting the goal spot.
Morocco’s scares added up minutes later after an injured Romain Saiss was forced to yield his place to Selim Amllah. Saiss caught a serious leg injury during Morocco’s game against Spain in the round of 16. The injury had also sent Saiss out of the football pitch in the Morocco vs Portugal quarterfinals game on Saturday.
Mbappe’s speed was key in breaking Morocco’s defensive line, with his passes backed by his colleague Fernandez.
In the 44th minute, Morocco’s Jawad Yamiq made a spectacular double-kick shot that could not go through due to the post but will definitely be spoken about for a week or longer.
Morocco started the second half with a better balance but France continued its tactics attempting to break Morocco’s defense and made dangerous scoring attempts against Bounou.
In the 50th minute, Sofyane Amrabat – a key defender in the national squad, stopped a powerful counterattack attempt from Mbappe near the penalty square.
Throughout the second half of the match, Morocco proved to be up to the task and put France under immense pressure.
The fans made the game more spectacular with their patriotic chants, such as “Dima Maghreb” (Morocco forever) and the famous “Sir, Sir, Sir” (go), among others to cheer up the Atlas Lions.
In the 79th minute, however, France’s Randal Kolo Muani scored a second goal that definitely buried the game for Morocco.
Despite the exit, Morocco’s Atlas Lions achieved an honorable record at this World Cup.
Regardless of tonight’s outcome, Atlas Lions fans had insisted before kickoff, Morocco has made history and energized other underdogs for future World Cups.
Topping a group that included Belgium and Croatia, and going on to win against Spain and Portugal has made Morocco’s story in Qatar the future inspiration for African, Arab, and Asian tops looking to end the European and South American dominance over global football.
