Defending world champions end Morocco’s World Cup dreams and book their place in the final.
France have beaten Morocco 2-0 at Al Bayt Stadium to claim a place in Sunday’s World Cup final.
They will play Lionel Messi’s Argentina who booked their spot with Tuesday’s win over Croatia.
In an end-to-end game on Wednesday, the defending world champions took their chances but Morocco did not make life easy for France, with notable periods of attacking possession on either side of the halftime break.
Theo Hernandez spoils Morocco’s party
Morocco pressed high early but left gaps at the back. When Antoine Griezmann found one such space in the fifth minute, Morocco panicked. His effort was blocked but it rebounded for Kylian Mbappe. Morocco franticly managed to get in the way of his effort too, but failed to control or clear it, and it bounced to Theo Hernandez.
Hernandez paused for a split-second, unhurried as the ball came to a striking height while goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was bearing down upon him, then leapt into the air and connected with the ball beautifully, sending it past the keeper and into the net. It was the first goal Morocco had conceded to an opposition player at the World Cup in Qatar.
Five minutes in and Morocco’s already tough job became even harder.
This article article was originally published by Al-Jazeera.
