France beat Morocco 2-0 in the World Cup semi-finals at the Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday night, ending the African side’s dream campaign in Qatar.
An early goal from Theo Hernandez and a late touch from substitute Randal Kolo Muani gave defending champions France a hard-fought victory over a valiant Morocco team that made history at the 2022 African World Cup.
Didier Deschamps’ side will now face Argentina, who sealed a 3-0 win over Croatia on Tuesday as the two heavyweights met for the first time in a World Cup final.
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“There is emotion, there is pride, there will be a final stage, we’ve been together with the players for a month, it’s never easy, there’s happiness so far,” Deschamps said after the match.
France poured cold water on hopes of another Moroccan miracle within five minutes when a scuffle in the penalty area saw the ball fall to Hernandez, who hit the crossbar and shot past Yassine Bounou.
“Playing two World Cup finals in a row is an incredible moment. We did a good job, it was difficult, but we are in the final. We will work hard to win this final,” said Hernandez.
Olivier Giroud hit the post and missed from close range in the first half after a quick run through the middle by Aurelien Tchouameni.
But Morocco were never intimidated and had their chance when Azzedine Ounahi forced two good saves from French captain Hugo Lloris with speculative efforts, and set-pieces put the French defense under pressure.
The North Africans have been hit hard by injuries to their key centre-backs, with their gamble to name Nayef Aguerd in the starting line-up failing as he injured his hamstring in the warm-up and captain Romain Saiss had to leave after 20 minutes.
Jawad El Yamiq’s audacious shot nearly leveled Morocco late in the first half, but Lloris just cleared the ball as France held on to a 1-0 lead.
Morocco took the lead after the break and Yahya Attiat-Allah spurned a golden opportunity to equalize as he spent much of the first 10 minutes of the second half in France’s defensive end.
Kylian Mbappé’s confused run through the tight space in Morocco’s penalty area led to France’s second goal after the PSG star’s half-kick dribbled towards goal and Kolo Muani pounced to double the lead with a third fastest goal of a substitute in World Cup history as Les Bleus booked a return to the final.
Morocco coach Walid Regragui led the Atlas Lions through an unlikely campaign in Qatar, overseeing a group-winning campaign, a round of 16 victory over Spain and a victory over Portugal that made them the first African team to reach to the semifinals before losing to France.
“We gave our all, that’s the most important thing,” said Regragui. “We had some injuries, we lost Aguerd in the warm-up, Saiss in the break. We paid for the smallest mistake. We didn’t start the game well, we had a lot of technical waste in the first half and the second goal kills us. But that doesn’t take away everything we did before.”
France beat Argentina 4-3 at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, although La Albiceleste has the historical record of direct confrontation with six wins, three draws and three defeats in 12 meetings.
France became the first champions to reach back-to-back finals since Brazil in 2002 and are looking to become the first team in 60 years and the third to retain the World Cup title in back-to-back tournaments.
The country’s president, Emmanuel Macron, said he was “immensely proud” of France after traveling to Qatar and watching the game with FIFA chief Gianni Infantino.
“I feel very proud of my country. I am very happy,” Macron told reporters after the match. “I want the French to enjoy this simple happiness.”
Reuters information was used in this report.