Reigning champions France trail Argentina to World Cup final – Morocco’s journey ends

First goal for Kolo Muani

France can continue to dream of successfully defending their title. The « Team Tricolor » won the second semi-final of the World Cup in Qatar 2-0 (1-0) against the surprise team of Morocco, which was the first African team to reach the round of 16. The 2018 champion’s goals came from Eintracht Frankfurt’s Theo Hernández (5th minute) and Randal Kolo Muani (79th), who scored for the French for the first time.

In Sunday’s final, the Argentines around captain Lionel Messi are long overdue, who want to lift the World Cup for the first time since 1986. Morocco meet Croatia in the match for third place on Saturday. Should France triumph again, it would be the first successful title defense since Brazil’s second title in 1962.

The Moroccans were carried by no less than 30,000 enthusiastic supporters when the squad composition was read. The small French bloc, on the other hand, was barely heard. Loud whistles when the French team had the ball didn’t help at first. After a defensive error, the ball flipped inside the Moroccan penalty area towards Hernández, who lightly artistically scored goalkeeper Bono to take the lead. No player in the semi-finals of the World Cup since 1958. In the stands, French President Emmanuel Macron clenched his fist in celebration. The game was politically charged – Morocco was a French protectorate until 1956, and over a million Moroccans live in France.

At Al-Bait Stadium, the surprise team fought back as best they could. Coach Walid Regragui’s selection, who impulsively shouted on-field instructions on the touchline, played more attackingly than before against Spain and Portugal. Azzedine Ounahi put France’s record goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to the test with a long shot (10th). After 20 minutes, however, the second holder in central defense, captain Romain Saïss, had to leave the field. Nayef Aguerd had to leave injured after the warm-up.

In this phase, the Frenchman did not necessarily play like a world champion, but continued to play with coach Didier Deschamps’ clear game idea. The ex-professional had to do without former Adrien Rabiot, who was sick on Wednesday. Bayern professional Dayot Upamecano was also on the bench. But the enormous speed of Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé kept flashing, behind Antoine Griezmann sorted with a nice overview. Only the goals were missing. Veteran Olivier Giroud only touched the post (17th), Mbappé and Giroud again missed great chances (36th).

Because Jawad El Yamiq hit the post with a whim just before the break (45th) and Morocco was still stronger overall, the French could be satisfied with the tight score at halftime.

Immediately after the restart, Moroccan star Achraf Hakimi barely defended against Mbappé (48th). When the Frenchman lay on the grass for a long time after Sofyan Amrabat resolutely tackled the match, Macron watched with concern (51st). And Morocco got better and better, France’s defense around Upamecano’s substitutes Ibrahima Konaté and Raphaël Varane wavered alarmingly.

Deschamps reacted after just over an hour and brought in Marcus Thuram from Gladbach for Giroud. However, the performance of the double world champion was no longer sovereign. Unlike the quarter-final against Portugal, Morocco also shone in terms of play. In the penalty area, however, Regragui’s selection lacked consistency, or a Frenchman intervened at the last moment. Kolo Muani’s goal, which came for Dembélé, came out of nowhere – and had Macron cheering with glee.

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