Morocco finally saw an end to their fairytale run at the hands of current champions France after losing the second semi-final 2–0 in front of an electric crowd at Al Bayt stadium in the Qatari capital Wednesday night.
The first ever African and Arab nation to reach the last four of the World Cup, Morocco, which was under French rule between 1912 and 1956, have a complicated relation with the European country.
Les Bleus, banking on their experience, capitalized by taking an early lead, scored smartly by Theo Hernandez, to frustrate the Atlas Lions as late substitute Randal Kolo Muani, in his very first touch, netted the second at the end to take France to the final where they will meet two-time world champions Argentina at Lusail Iconic Stadium this coming Sunday.
Moroccan defenders, captain Romain Saiss, Nayef Aguerd and Noussair Mazraoui, were all injury doubts but passed fit to start the game.
But eventually, Aguerd had to be replaced by Achraf Dari after the warm-up.
And things became worse when Saiss failed to continue and had to make way for Selim Amallah that forced Walid Regragui to switch from 5-2-3 to 4-3-3 formation.
France, on the other hand, were required to bring on Youssouf Fofana and Ibrahima Konate to replace Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano, who were reportedly sick and caught the flu, and lined up as 4-2-3-1, also known as double pivot line-up.
The game started slowly and both the teams were trying to take control of the balls and possession.
The crowd in red cheered the Moroccan players continuously and whistled each and every touch by the men in blue.
On the fifth minute, out of nowhere, Theo, playing this World Cup in place of his injured brother Lucas, gave the lead to France thanks to some smart work by Antoine Griezmann in midfield.
Griezmann stylishly dummied just on the edge of the box on the right and sent the cross to Kylian Mbappe in the center who got his first shot blocked and the second attempt rebounded towards Theo in front of the far post.
Morocco's savior in the previous games, Yassine Bounou hesitated, which gave some time to Theo, who kept his balance and connected the bouncing ball well to send to the net after a couple of opponent defenders failed to clear on the line.
With an early setback, the famous Moroccan fans did not hold themselves back but started getting louder to push their side.
Six minutes later, Azzedine Ounahi attempted a nice looking curling shot from 25 yards which was nicely negotiated by France captain Hugo Lloris diving to his left and pulling out a one-handed save.
On the 17th minute, Hakim Ziyech got a good opportunity on the right inside the box after a brilliant run by Sofiane Boufal, only to send it wide on the stretch.
In an instant counter, Olivier Giroud received a long ball on the left side at the edge of penalty box but his thumping shot hit the post.
On the 36th minute, Mbappe and Giroud failed to utilize a wonderful opportunity to double the lead after Aurelien Tchouameni delivered an excellent ball, beating Achraf Hakimi to find their No 10.
Mbappe's shot was intercepted by Bounou, and resulted in a clear chance for Giroud who failed to keep the ball on target.
At the very end of the first half, Jawad El Yamiq struck the post with a spectacular overhead kick, finding the ball from Ziyech's inswinging corner at the end of the area.
Slight touch from Lloris's fully outstretched arm on the right sent the ball onto the post to keep his team's lead intact before going to the tunnel for the half-time break.
Morocco kept pushing in the second half and got a couple of good chances in the 54th minute.
Yahia Attiyat Allah, at the near post, failed to control his shot after finding a dangerous Boufal cross from the right.
Attiyat Allah, just after few moments, got a bit of space on the left side of the area, tried to deliver to Youssef En-Nesyri in front of an open net but Konate got in front and cleared.
Marcus Thuram on the 71st minute, headed a Griezmann freekick wide at the far post.
Five minutes later, substitute Abderrazak Hamadallah got the ball after Tchouameni lost it poorly, went past two defenders into the penalty area but strangely opted not to shoot from eight yards before being tackled away.
France sent on Kolo Muani on the 79th minute and the 24-year old grabbed their second goal with his first touch after Mbappe dribbled past between two players on the edge of the penalty box and his deflected shot found the former in front of an open goal.
In the dying moments, Morocco came close with several goalscoring chances in the form of Ounahi but somehow failed to send the ball to the net to end the game with a defeat, but heads nevertheless held high in front of their ever-cheering crowd.
