Morocco vs France Semi-Final: After knocking out Ronaldo’s Portugal in the quarter-finals by 1-0, brilliant Morocco will face defending champions France in the semi-finals. Both sides will take on each other for the first time in a mega-event.
Talking about France first, they knocked out potential favourites England by 2-1 in the quarter-finals after a good game of Football as both teams played positively. Tchouameni scored the opening goal of the game after a brilliant counter-attack.
He was quite away from the goal and instead of giving a pass to any of his teammates, he scored France’s first goal outside the box in this World Cup as he shoots himself from the distance and his brilliant shot proved to be out of reach for Jordan Pickford who became seventh English goalkeeper to play 50 games between the sticks.
In the 52nd minute, goal-scorer Tchouameni clipped Saka in the box and conceded a penalty. Harry Kane became the player with the most penalties in World Cup history excluding shootouts as he took the penalty and sent it to the top left corner, sending Hugo Lloris the wrong way who overtook Lilian Thuram and became the most-capped player for France (143 appearances).
With the game evenly poised 1-1 in the 78th minute, France’s all-time top-scorer Oliver Giroud delivered once again when his side needed him the most. Antoine Griezmann sent a beautiful cross in the box and Giroud reacted at right time to send the ball back off the net.
In the 81st minute, England was given another chance to score from the spot as Theo Hernandez pushed over Mason Mount with no contact with the ball but Harry Kane sent the ball above the net into the stands and the Three Lions were knocked out of the World cup as they didn’t create much threat till the final.
In the semi-finals, they’ll face Morocco who has been truly wonderful throughout the tournament as they have progressed to the final four after beating some top teams in the World with likes of Belgium, Spain, Portugal etc.
Morocco vs France: France Possible Starting XI
Hugo Lloris, Kounde, Varane, Upamecano, T. Hernandez, Tchouameni, Rabiot, Griezmann, Dembele, Mbappe, Giroud
On the other hand, Morocco overcame another World-class team as they knocked out Portugal in the quarter-finals. Youssef En-Nesyri scored the only goal of the game just two minutes before the end of the first half.
Cheddira received his second yellow card of the night after a clumsy challenge on Joao Felix in the 90+3 minute. Morocco was down to 10 min and played the whole game without two out of four regular defenders but still, they silenced the attacking guns of Portugal and a huge credit goes to Yassine Bounou, who made his 50th appearance in all competitions for Morocco.
In the semi-finals, they’ll face defending champions France who knocked out England in the quarterfinals and is looking forward to first, booking their ticket to the final and then winning consecutive editions.
Walid Regragui has several injury concerns ahead of this historical match as striker Walid Cheddira got his second yellow card vs Portugal and is suspended for the game against France. Aguerd sustained an adductor injury and missed the game against Portugal.
Captain Romain Saiss got off on a stretcher due to an ongoing hamstring problem but has assured to do everything to make it to the semi-final.
Mazraoui was suffering from a hip flexor problem while Hakim Ziyech, who was forced off, is expected to be fine and ready to start against France.
Morocco vs France: Morocco Probable Starting XI
Bounou, Hakimi, El Yamiq, Aguerd, Mazraoui, Ounahi, Amrabat, Amallah, Ziyech, En-Nesyri, Boufal
Morocco vs France Match Details:
* Location: Al Kohr, Qatar
* Stadium: Al Bayt Stadium
* Date: 14 December, Wednesday
* Time: 19:00 GMT / 14:00 ET / 11:00 PT
Morocco vs France: Conclusion
Morocco has progressed after knocking out some World-Class teams and they would be looking forward to producing another night to remember and book a spot in the historical final but on the other hand, France is a well-balanced, strong team in the World and they would be looking forward to booking their place in the final.
