Didier Deschamps raised his arms as the Moroccan players fell to the ground from exhaustion.
The result was more or less known for 15 minutes, but now it’s official. As the Moroccan campaign ended in dismay, the French would act.
France beat Morocco 2-0 on Wednesday afternoon to set up a 2022 World Cup final against Argentina in a bid to win their first title against reigning champions Lionel Messi.
Kylian Mbappe’s strike was followed by Theo Hernandez’s goal to put France ahead through Yassine Bounu just five minutes into the game. The move began after Antoine Griezmann came on, after his Moroccan defender fell to the ground and opened space in the box. Morocco went close to save Mbappe’s shot, but the defense had no hope when the ball fell to Hernandez.
He rose to the top of a high jumper and smashed it into the ground to give France an early lead.
It was Morocco’s second goal conceded all tournament, and the first by a different team. (Morocco allowed an own goal against Canada in the group stage). It put the Moroccans in the rare position of having to fight back against a side that looked ready to take over.
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They almost proved themselves worth the trouble.
The game hung in the balance for the next 73 minutes, with Morocco throwing everything they had and the French proving worthy of the challenge.
Having spent the entire World Cup on defense, the team was effective in attack, possession and repeatedly forcing France to struggle. But they began to tire in the 65th minute when Marcus Thuram missed a dangerous free-kick and Thuram had another chance in the 76th minute.
Finally, in the 79th minute, Morocco’s dream of Africa, and with it the Middle East, faded as Mbappe found Randal Kolo Mouani at the back post and Morocco’s defense piled on the superstar. leaving Mua alone to finish.
Morocco is playing the best game for the African team in the World Cup, which is an undeniable aspect of the World Cup. During La Marseillaise on Wednesday, the crowd showed what their run means not just to Africa, but to the Middle East, before whistling national anthems before chanting every word to the Cherifian anthem. Morocco fought back at the end and forced Jules Kounde to clear the ball off the line in the fourth minute of stoppage time, but it was not enough.
As for France, it’s hard to think of a more storied World Cup final than Sunday’s 10am match. Mbappe will win the second world championship at the age of 23. Deschamps is trying to become the first coach since Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo in 1934 and 1938 to win back-to-back World Cups, and the first coach since France to win back-to-back titles since Brazil. In 1958 and 1962, another young superstar Peleda as his talisman.
On the Argentinian side, Lionel Messi will be playing in his second World Cup final and this will surely be his last game for La Albiceleste. It will be the first world title for a South American team since Brazil in 2002, and for Argentina since 1986, when Diego Maradona led the nation to glory in Mexico City.
Obviously, this is the result that every network wants. And without a doubt, it’s a decent game.
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