France entered the final after defeating Morocco in the second semi-final of the World Cup in Qatar. Earlier, Argentina was waiting for a ‘worthy opponent’ after defeating Croatia in the first semi-final.
The 22nd FIFA World Cup will be held at Lucille Stadium on December 18. Both France-Argentina teams have a chance to take home the title of ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ for the third time.
Last season’s champion France beat Morocco 2-0 to enter the last four of the World Cup for the first time in the semi-final match at the Al Bayt Stadium. Bivouac Mbappe dreams of winning the world’s most prestigious trophy for the second time in a row.
What Morocco couldn’t do despite trying almost the entire time of the second half, France’s Randal Kolo Mouani did it within 44 seconds of entering the field as a substitute. The French forward scored a goal as a replacement for Ousmane Dembele.
Kylian Mbappé’s shot deflected off the body of a Moroccan player but went to Muani who was standing in space on the right. Mwani made no mistake to score the first goal in the jersey of France with a cool head as soon as he came down to play the fourth match.
And with this goal, it was confirmed that France reached the World Cup final for the second time in a row. The French came close to becoming the first team in 60 years to win back-to-back World Cups with a 2–0 win over Qatar’s World Cup shock Morocco at Al Bayat Stadium.
Kylian Mbappé’s France will play against Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the final at Lucille Iconic Stadium next Sunday. Mbappe, however, did not score today. Theo Hernandez scored the first goal for the reigning champions before Muanyi.
Having conceded just one goal before the semi-final, it took just 5 minutes for France to overcome Morocco’s impenetrable defensive fortress. Antoine Griezmann is the source of the goal. The French forward eluded Moroccan defender Jawad Al Yamiq from the right flank and crossed to Kylian Mbappe. The first shot bounced off Moroccan defenders and bounced back to Mbappe. The return shot bounced off the body of another defender to Theo Hernandez, who was standing almost empty on the left side. The France defender scored his first goal in the World Cup and his second goal in the national team jersey with a great left-footed volley.
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Morocco got a chance to equalize after five minutes. Midfielder Azedin Unahi’s shot from 25 yards away was blocked by France captain Hugo Lloris. In the 17th minute, Morocco lost another chance. This time, Hakim Jeesh could not take Loris’ test. The Chelsea star’s shot from the right goes wide.
The French had a chance to double the lead without wasting a chance. A long pass by Olivier Giroud’s half-volley was deflected off the sidebar.
Four minutes later, captain Romain Sais left the field with the captain’s armband in the hands of Jeesh. The injury in the quarter-final forced him to leave the field. Just before the start of the match, another Moroccan player, Nayef Aguerde, was forced to withdraw his name from the eleven due to injury.
After 15 minutes, the French had a chance to completely knock Morocco out of the match, having lost two key players within 21 minutes. How did Mbappe and Giroud waste that opportunity? Aurelien Chuameni’s pass found Mbappe in the Moroccan box. Morocco goalkeeper Yassin Bounu was able to dodge the shot but El Yamik turned it away. The French got possession of the ball shortly after, but Zirou’s 12-yard shot went wide.
The current champions were paying the price of this failure in the first half. At the end of the first half, the Moroccans pressed France. In 44 minutes, El Yamik could not be named in the competition for the best goal of the World Cup in Qatar! Ziyech’s corner deflected off the hands of the France goalkeeper and into the Moroccan defender at the head of the penalty box. Yamik took an overhead kick in an acrobatic pose with the whole body floating in the void. The ball was hit by the light touch of Lloris’s hand, whose whole body floated to the right.
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After the break, Morocco repeatedly shook the hearts of the champions. For the first 15 minutes of the second half, the ball was in France’s territory. The Moroccans could not use the opportunity to score multiple times in one attack. In the attack of the 54th minute, Raphael Varane and Ibrahima Konate saved France once. After two minutes, Morocco had a chance to score again, this time Griezmann saved the team by leaving the attack and defending. Morocco squandered a great opportunity in the 75th minute. This time too, the team could not take a shot in time.
With the regret of losing all these opportunities, the Atlas Lions had to finally give up their dream of playing in the finals.