France – Morocco – 1: 0
After the emotional big win of the Argentina national team against Croatia in the first semi-final, Lionel Messi, Julián Alvarez and Co. defeated Luka Modric with a score of 3:0, everyone was expecting a more interesting match in the second match.
And there was a reason. While the brave Moroccans, the current world champions of France and the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, were in different categories, there was a lot of intrigue.
Relations between the countries added sharpness to the conflict. Morocco was the North African colony of France, and since then the inhabitants of this country have taken a rather negative attitude towards the “tricolor”.
But there was enough football intrigue. The French team won the World Cup in Russia four and a half years ago and may be the third team to win the World Cup twice in a row, after Brazil in the 50s and early 60s and Italy in the 30s.
The wards of Didier Deschamps seem to have it all: an excellent squad, great players, and also progressive, effective and very attractive football. Not to mention self-confidence and the psychology of winners.
But against Morocco, the “tricolors” also have a very classy opponent, and its composition consists entirely of players from good European clubs, including PSG, Bayern, Chelsea and Sevilla. The Walid Regraga team itself is well trained and shows effective football in Qatar.
The main confirmation of this is only one goal scored before the semi-finals. In addition, in the match played against Canada in the group stage, the Africans scored their own goals with a score of 2-0 in their favor.
True, in the match with France, they scored a goal in the fourth minute, when the strongest pressure of the world champions led to several shots at once from the penalty area, the last of which Theo Hernandez hit from a sharp angle. summer, but on an almost empty target.
The Europeans took the lead and did not slow down. The French controlled the ball and the zone, pressed, attacked, created opportunities, and in the best of them, Olivier Giroud took a powerful shot from the penalty line to the post.
True, the end of the first half remained in the red-greens. Moreover, they not only took control of the area and attacked, but also created a super chance.
After the corner, defender Javad El-Yamik hit the post with scissors and hit the post! Maybe Hugo Lloris controlled the situation but he still looked great and then there was a commotion in the box.
And Regraga’s team maintained that momentum until the end of the first half and finished off with a very good free kick from Hakim Ziyech – Lloris played with his fists.
I must say that the Moroccan national team has suffered from injuries in the last matches of the players. In the first half of the match, as in the quarter-finals, the captain of the team, Romain Saiss, had to leave the field in the early match, and was replaced by Nussair Mazraoui at the timeout.
But all this did not prevent the North Africans from giving a strong second half. It was the Moroccan national team that spent most of the second half on offense, creating chances and forcing Lloris and his defenders to plow.
A few times there was real panic in the French penalty area, but they responded anyway and it was all over in the 79th minute.
During the second half, Kylian Mbappe, who was brutally beaten by the referee’s legs for some reason, took the ball in front of the penalty area, dribbled three points, and infiltrated the shock position. and shot.
After the rebound, the ball bounced to the far post where, after 20 seconds of running, Randal Kolo Muani took the field. It was not difficult for him to enter an empty corner and score his first goal for the French national team.
At the same time, the Moroccans played to the end and the ball was once drawn from the French goal line by Ibrahima Konate, but the score was no longer changed.
2:0 – France goes to their second consecutive World Cup final where they will play against Argentina in Russia, where they were eliminated in the 1/8 final, and Morocco will face the Croats in the “bronze” match.