FIFA World Cup Semifinals: France vs Morocco
Where: Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khour; When: Thursday 8 a.m [NZ time]
Live broadcast: Sky Sport 1, Sky Sport 7, Prime, Stuff live updates
Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Achraf Dari and Walid Cheddira of Morocco celebrate their victory over Portugal in the quarterfinals of the Fifa World Cup.
France is aiming to become the first nation to win back-to-back men’s world titles since Brazil – led by Pelé – in 1958 and 1962.
A second consecutive final stands in the way of Morocco, the first African country to finish in the last four at a FIFA World Cup.
The giant killers eliminated Spain and Portugal en route to the semis and hope their watertight defense can hold up against Kylian Mbappé and company and force another upset.
Incredibly, Morocco have conceded just one goal so far and that was an own goal against Canada.
Christophe Ena/`
French star Kylian Mbappé has scored five goals at this year’s Fifa World Cup – the most by any player.
key men
Kylian Mbappe: Tournament top scorer with five goals in five games. He scored a brace in France’s round of 16 victory over Poland.
Arkaf Hakimi: The player assigned to mark for Mbappé is his PSG team-mate and the standout talent in the tournament’s best defence.
Form
France: Beat England 2-1, beat Poland 3-1, lose to Tunisia 1-0, beat Denmark 2-1, beat Australia 4-1
Morocco: Beat Portugal 1-0, beat Spain 3-0 on penalties after a 0-0 draw, beat Canada 2-1, beat Belgium 2-0, draw against Croatia
The history
France and Morocco have previously played each other eleven times, with Morocco winning just once in 1963.
Otherwise, France dominates the head-to-head record after beating Morocco seven times. The other three games ended in a draw.
When they last met 15 years ago, the two teams drew 2-2.
The conversation
France coach Didier Deschamps: “In the past, the world champions didn’t always do well at the next World Cup and we managed to do that.”
Morocco’s French-born coach Walid Regragui: “Why shouldn’t we dream of winning the World Cup? If you don’t dream, you won’t get anywhere. It costs you nothing to dream.”
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