The reigning world champions are just one victory away from reclaiming their title, RT reports.
After defeating Morocco 2-0 at the Al-Bayt Stadium on Wednesday, France has secured a spot in the World Cup final against Argentina in Qatar. The goals that secured France’s spot in the final were scored by Theo Hernandez and Randal Muani.
Les Bleus showed the mettle of champions as they managed to carve out a win on the back foot similar to what they had done against England in the quarterfinals. Perhaps they were lucky because Morocco had a plethora of chances, but Les Bleus showed that they have what it takes to be champions.
The World Cup champions from Russia 2018 are the first team since Brazil in 1998 and 2002 to qualify for back-to-back World Cup finals thanks to their triumph in Russia.
As for Morocco, who made history by becoming the first African and Arab team in the history of the tournament to make it to the semifinals, they can hold their heads high after putting on another gutsy display against strong European competition.
An error committed by Morocco’s back line gave France an early opportunity to take the lead when it allowed Antoine Griezmann to break free and play the ball into the penalty area for Kylian Mbappe to score.
In the fifth minute of the match, the Atlas Lions wrestled with the superstar player for Paris Saint-Germain and were able to block his shot. However, the ball was able to get away from them, and left back Lucas Hernandez smashed a bouncing half-volley past Yassine Bounou.
Olivier Giroud came close to scoring for France once more when his shot hit the post of Bounou’s goal after 17 minutes. After that, however, it was pretty much all Morocco from there on out, with Jawad El Yamiq’s incredible overhead kick that hit Hugo Lloris’ post on the stroke of halftime being the best of numerous opportunities for the Moroccans.
It was business as usual for the fearless Moroccans during the second half of the game as they took the game to their opponent. Nearing the hour mark, substitute Selim Amallah misfired a shot inside the penalty area, and Youssef En-Nesyri and Zakaria Aboukhlal were unable to connect with two decent crosses, either because they were too high or because they were out of range.
Around this time in the match, Player of the Tournament candidate Nordin Amrabat made a bone-crunching tackle on an off-key Mbappe, who was relatively quiet once more as he had been against England. Mbappe was relatively quiet once more as he had been against England.
Didier Deschamps, the coach for France, recognized that Kylian Mbappe was not tracking back and marking his PSG teammate Achraf Hakimi on the right flank while dangerous balls continued to fly in from the wings. As a result, Deschamps made the astute decision to remove Olivier Giroud from the game and replace him with Marcus Thuram.
While Deschamps moved Thuram to the left wing, he moved Mbappe to the central striker’s role, which ultimately proved to be the most important role in breaking the tie.
Aurelien Tchouameni, who was responsible for France’s first goal in their most recent victory over England by a score of 2-1, made a run from midfield that carved up Morocco and found Kylian Mbappe.
Mbappe and Thuram engaged in a slick passing exchange before Mbappe took a shot. Once again benefiting from lady luck, the French watched as Randal Muani pounced on a loose ball to score the go-ahead goal for France with 79 minutes remaining in the match.
Jules Kounde made a crucial save for FC Barcelona by blocking a shot on the line that was attempted by Morocco. Earlier in the same play, Kounde had allowed his FC Barcelona teammate Ez Abde to easily dribble past him.
It just wasn’t Morocco’s night, and they couldn’t get the ball in the goal. As France hung on for the victory and celebrated with their supporters, they realized that they now have another opportunity to match the Brazilians in the annals of history.
READ MORE: Clinical Mbappe slices Poland, sends France into quarter finals
If they are successful against Argentina on Sunday, the South Americans’ rivals from across the border, they will become the first team to win back-to-back titles since Pele and the Brazilian national team did it in 1958 and 1962.
