France Defeats Morocco 2-0, Les Bleus Advances to Final vs Argentina
In the semifinal match at Al Bayt Stadium, Thursday (15/12/2022) early morning WIB, French goals were created in each half by Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani.
This victory makes France the opportunity to defend its world title on December 18 later. The condition is that they must be able to beat Argentina at the top of the party.
Morocco, which suffered its first defeat in this tournament, is fighting for third place against Croatia on Saturday 17 December.
The course of the match France vs Morocco
France immediately pressed since the early minutes and got a goal in the fifth minute through Theo Hernandez. Starting from the attack from the right side which was built by Antoine Griezmann, the ball was then sent into the penalty box.
Kylian Mbappe tried to shoot but the ball hit a Moroccan player, and it headed for Theo who, while jumping, kicked the ball past Yassine Bounou's challenge.
Morocco's goal was finally conceded for the first time by opposing players in this tournament.
The goal was not to make Morocco hit, but instead they dared to attack France. Azz-Eddine Ounahi got a shot in front of the penalty box and directed the ball into the left corner of the goal, but Hugo Lloris swiftly brushed it off.
France started to attack again after 10 minutes and came close to scoring in the 17th minute had Giroud's shot from the left not hit the post.
Morocco was forced to withdraw captain and center back Romain Saiss and was replaced by Selim Amallah. Saiss apparently isn't really fit from the thigh injury he got against Portugal.
France had another chance in the 36th minute when Aurelien Tchouameni's through ball was chased by Mbappe into the penalty box. Mbappe directed the ball into an empty net, but Achraf Hakimi quickly cleared it.
Morocco pressed France back in the last five minutes of the match and forced the opponent's rearguard to work hard. Morocco almost got a goal in the 45th minute from the corner.
The ball headed for Jawad El Yamiq, who turned his back to the goal and took an acrobatic kick, but still hit the goalpost. The rebound ball that was struck by his partner was still wide.
The 1-0 score lasted for France's superiority at the end of the first half.
Entering the second half, Morocco took the initiative to put pressure on France and made their opponent defend a lot.
In the 54th minute, the Moroccan players attacked and threw the French back line into a tailspin. However, the crossing ball from En-Nsyri was able to be cut off by Konate in front of the goal before it reached Boufal.
Morocco completely confined France so that the defending champions had difficulty developing the game. Therefore Marcus Thuram came in to replace Giroud in order to provide a refresher front line.
Thuram's introduction saw France bite again as Mbappe was placed in the middle. Thuram had a chance in the 74th minute but the ball went wide.
France doubled the score in the 79th minute while keeping Morocco's hopes of catching up. This time, the combination of Mbappe and Thuram on the left was able to break down the Moroccan defense.
Mbappe crossed for 1-2 with Thuram, before beating several players in the box. Mbappe shot, but the ball hit the Moroccan player before rolling towards Kolo Muani who easily leaked into the net.
Kolo Muani, even though he had not replaced Dembele for a minute.
Morocco did not want to give up and they were still trying to find a goal in the last 10 minutes of the match. There was one chance for Azz-Eddine Ounahi in front of goal, but the ball was blocked.
The France vs Morocco match finally ended 2-0 for the victory of the Rooster Team.
Player line-up
France: Hugo Lloris; Jules Kounde, Raphael Varane, Ibrahima Konate, Theo Hernandez; Aurelien Tchouameni, Youssouf Fofana; Ousmane Dembele (Randal Kolo Muani 79'), Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe; Olivier Giroud (Marcus Thuram 65').
Maroko: Yassine Bounou; Achraf Hakimi, Jawad El Yamiq, Achraf Dari, Romain Saiss (Selim Amallah 21'), Noussair Mazraoui (Yahya Attiyat-Allah 45'); Hakim Ziyech, Azz-Eddine Ounahi, Sofyan Amrabat, Sofiane Boufal (Zakaria Aboukhlal 67'); Youssef En-Nesyri (Abderrazak Hamdallah, 45').
