A decent showing by France is enough to secure them a spot in the final at this year’s World Cup! Morocco will be left thinking that they could have achieved even more, however reaching the top 4 is a huge achievement by itself! Let’s see what happened in today’s match!
| T. Hernandez 5′ R. Kolo Muani 79′ |
Location: Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor
Referee: Cesar Arturo Ramos Palazuelos, Mexico
France
Manager: D. Deschamps
Subs: M. Thuram 65′, R. Kolo Muani 78′
Morocco
Manager: W. Regragui
Subs: S. Amallah 21′, Y. Attiat-Allah 46′, A. Hamdallah 66′, Z. Aboukhlal 66′, Ez Abde 78′
France were the better side in the early minutes and they managed to score in the 5th minute, thanks to a Theo Hernandez goal. This forced Morocco in a situation with which they are not used to, they had to attack. They did put some pressure on Les Bleus, but their biggest chances came after individually brilliant moments, such as a long range shot from Ounahi and an El Yamiq bycicle kick(pictured below). France also had it’s share of chances, however Mbappe and Giroud failed to score, at least in the first half.
Morocco dominated the game in the second half, but it was mostly domination without the end product, they didn’t manage to create a lot of chances. Deschamps subbed Giroud off in the 78th minute and his reserve, Kolo Muani managed to make it 2-0 just one minute after, after a nice Mbappe chance. Interestingly, the French manager made only 2 subs this game, similar to what he has done in the game versus England. Morocco did have another big chance at the end, their chance to make it 2-1, but Kounde managed to clear the ball.
France are through the Final once more! They are going to be facing Messi’s Argentina and have a chance at defending their crown. Morocco will play Croatia in the 3rd place playoff.