Key highlights of the match
- 5’- Theo Hernandez scores for France lead.
- 17’- Olivier Giroud hits the post.
- 21’- Roman Saiss goes off after not being able to carry on.
- 45’-Hugo Lloris saves Jawad El Yamiq’s overhead kick.
- 71’- Thuram misses his header from Griezmann’s freekick.
- 79’- Randal Kolo Muani scores to give France a 2-0 lead.
- 90+4’- Varane blocks Ounahi’s deflected shot to keep the clean sheet.
Welcome to Sportstar’s highlights of the France vs Morocco FIFA World Cup 2022 semifinal match at the Al Bayt Stadium.
A full-time stat on the finalist!!
France beats Morocco 2-0 and qualifies for its second successive FIFA World Cup final. It will defend its trophy against Argentina on Sunday at the Lusail Stadium.
Ounahi with a brilliant run inside the box and Morocco is inches away from scoring a late goal but France hangs on again. Ounahi’s shot takes a deflection and was creeping inside the goal but Varane was there to make the block.
Ounahi seems to have pulled a muscle and is limping badly.
Mbappe nutmegs Amrabat and makes a darting run inside the Morocco box. But Hakimi puts in a good tackle to snatch the ball from his PSG teammate before he could take the shot.
Six added minutes at the end of the second-half!!
Aboukhlal gets the ball inside the box and shoots at Lloris’ near-post. But, it is an easy catch for the France keeper. The assistant eventually raises his flag for offside.
Ziyech with a good chance to cross the ball to Hakimi in the centre but he takes too much time and loses the ball.
GOOOALLLL!! FRANCE GETS ITS SECOND GOAL!! KOLO MUANI SCORES 44 SECONDS AFTER COMING ON!! Mbappe shows some lovely feet and gets his shot away inside the Morocco area. The shot is deflected and falls in the path of Kolo Muani at the far-post, who blasts the ball inside the net just 44 seconds after replacing Dembele.
France sub: IN- Kolo Muani OUT- Dembele
Morocco sub: IN- Ezzalzouli OUT- Amallah
Hamdallah with a brilliant chance to shoot as he gets the ball inside the box. He delays it too long and the chance is gone. A big miss for the Atlas Lions.
Thuram passes the ball to Fofana, who gets inside the Morocco penalty area. He takes the shot from a tight angle but cannot find the target.
Griezmann swings a dangerous cross inside the Morocco box from a France freekick. Marcus Thuram gets his head to the ball but cannot keep it on target. It is a goalkick for Morocco.
France threatens the Moroccan goal yet again as Kounde’s shot is blocked. But the flag goes up for offside.
Morocco sub: IN- Hamdallah, Aboukhlal OUT- En-Nesyri, Boufal
France sub: IN- Thuram OUT- Giroud
Boufal with some wonderful wingplay on the right. He squares the ball to the middle of the box from the right touchline but Griezmann is there to mop up the danger.
France with another counter-attack, which ends with Griezmann’s shot going out of play after a deflection. However, the referee raises his flag for offside. Mbappe made his run a tad bit early during the buildup.
Ounahi and Ziyech do well to keep the ball between themselves and get inside the France box. But the France defence doing enough to hold on to the lead again. Game of narrow margins this.
En-Nesyri almost gets a touch from a wonderful cross from Boufal, which would have guaranteed a goal. But the France defence holds on.
Mbappe makes a bursting run down the flank. He thought he had ample time and space to create something but before he knows it, Amrabat takes the ball off him with a crunching challenge. That tackle has hurt him and he is getting medical attention.
Mbappe and Hakimi in a pace battle to reach the ball. Mbappe almost gets to it but Bono comes out off his line and collects the ball. He comes together with Mbappe and hurts himself in the process. However, it is nothing major and he is okay to continue.
Mbappe accelerates down the left flank and makes his way inside the Morocco box. He lobs the ball in the centre but there is no one to attack the ball. Kounde takes the shot after pouncing on the loose ball but sees his shot blocked.
Morocco HT sub: IN- Attiat-Allah OUT- Mazraoui
France starts the second-half with a 1-0 lead against Morocco.
Theo Hernandez’s early goal keeps France ahead with a 1-0 scoreline at the break.
Lloris does well to come off his line and punch the ball from a Ziyech freekick.
Morocco finishing the half strongly as the France backline seems to be under the cosh.
Three added minutes at the end of the first-half!!
Save: It is a spectacular stop by Hugo Lloris. Yamiq connects with the ball with a beautiful overhead kick. The ball was creeping inside the bottom-left corner but Lloris’ last-minute intervention prevents Morocco from scoring the equaliser.
Hakimi and Ounahi play a good one-two as Morocco penetrates the Les Blues’ defence. Hakimi looks to square the ball but Konate sends the ball out for a corner.
Another patient build-up by France as Griezmann gets inside the box. He is just about to shoot before Yamiq gets a foot in to send the ball out for a corner.
France inches away from scoring its second. Tchouameni threads the ball to Mbappe who uses his pace to latch on to it. He shoots past Bono but Yamiq is there to clear. Tchouameni gets the ball again and passes the ball to Giroud this time, whose first time shot misses the target.
Griezmann’s corner is not cleared by Morocco. Fofana gets the ball inside the box and takes the shot but misses the target.
Amallah almost finds Ounahi with a good through ball but Konate is alert enough to cut the pass.
Giroud showing good work rate as he steals the ball in midfield and makes a run towards the final third. But he is fouled by Amallah.
Booking: Sofiane Boufal is shown a yellow card for his challenge on Theo Hernandez. It is the first booking of the match.
Amrabat steals the ball in the middle of the park and Morocco goes on an attack. Hakimi’s long-ranger is blocked and France gets the ball again. Mbappe makes a darting run but is dispossessed by Ounahi. Play stops after Mbappe fouls Ounahi.
Morocco tries to find an opening to penetrate the France backline but the attack ends after Hakimi fouls Hernandez.
Morocco sub: IN- Amallah OUT- Saiss. The Morocco captain thought he could power through his injury but he is clearly not fit. He reluctantly comes off the pitch.
Ziyech tries to find Boufal on the left with a cross from the right flank but the ball goes straight to Lloris.
Off the post- France breaks again and Olivier Giroud runs at the Moroccan defence. He gets inside the box and rifles a shot at Bono’s near-post. The shot beats Bono but hits the post.
Boufal passes the ball to Ziyech inside the box and the latter takes the shot. However, it was weak and the ball goes out of play.
Ziyech swings a good ball inside the box from a Morocco freekick. Dari tries to get his head to the ball but Konate does well to reach the ball first and head it away from danger.
Amrabat gives away the ball cheaply in a dangerous position but luckily nothing comes from it as France cannot keep the ball in play. That was sloppy from the Moroccan.
Shot: Ounahi with a wonderful curling effort from outside the box. The ball was sneaking inside the far-post, but Lloris does well to make the save.
That was the first time Morocco has conceded from an opponent’s goal. The only other time the Atlas Lions conceded was an own goal against Canada in the group stages.
GOOOALLLL!!! FRANCE SCORES EARLY!! IT IS THEO HERNANDEZ!! Morocco could not clear its lines from a France attack. The ball took a massive deflection off Mbappe’s shot and fell to Hernandez. Bono came off his line but Hernandez slotted the ball past home with a wonderful acrobatic volley.
A strong start by Morocco as it presses the French inside its own-half. Amrabat has just hounded Kounde into conceding a throw-in after he could not find any outlet to release the pressure.
France and Morocco kick-off their World Cup semifinal match at the Al Bayt Stadium.
12:25 AM- Teams are already on the pitch, singing their national anthems. Kick-off in five minutes.
Stat-attack!!
- France has never lost against Morocco in official matches, with all of its wins coming in friendlies.
- Morocco is looking to be the first African nation to reach the World Cup final. It already created history after becoming the first African nation to qualify for the semifinals in World Cup history.
- France is playing its seventh World Cup semifinal, having been eliminated from each of its first three (1958, 1982, 1986), they’ve won each of its last three matches at this stage (1998, 2006 and 2018).
France record in World Cup semi-finals
Listen to our World Cup podcast on the first semifinal between Argentina and Croatia
France vs Morocco Head-to-Head record
Match history
Team news
- Morocco: Atlas Lions captain Roman Saiss starts the semifinal after a major injury concern. It is to be seen whether he is at 100%.
- France: Dayot Upamecano does not start the match and is replaced by Ibrahima Konate. Youssouf Fofana starts in place of Adrien Rabiot.
France vs Morocco Starting XI
Match Preview
After putting Belgium, Portugal and Spain to the sword in Qatar, Morocco is looking to bring another soccer superpower to its knees when it faces France in the World Cup semifinal on Wednesday in a match heavy with political and social overtones.
Morocco, the first African side to reach the last four at a World Cup, will command ear-splitting support at the Al Bayt Stadium, and will need every bit of it to beat the defending champion and continue its fairy tale run.
The match against former colonial power France will take on an added edge. Morocco’s exploits in Qatar have provided an outlet for marginalised migrant communities in France, who have been out on the streets celebrating the teams wins.
The North Africans have ridden the wave of support throughout the tournament, crowds exhorting players to keep going as they emptied the tanks in every game.
After finishing top of a group that also included Croatia, Belgium and Canada, Morocco then knocked off the fancied Spaniards and Portuguese to reach the semis.
But whether it has enough to engineer an even bigger upset remains to be seen. By their own admission, there is a vast chasm in quality between the two sides.
France is expected to attack, Morocco to resist. Morocco’s defence has been virtually watertight, conceding only once - an own goal against Canada - in its five matches so far.
-REUTERS
PREDICTED 11
France: Hugo Lloris - Theo Hernandez, Dayot Upamecano, Raphael Varane, Jules Kounde - Adien Rabiot, Aurelien Tchouameni, Antoine Griezmann - Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud, Ousmane Dembele
Morocco: Yassine Bounou - Achraf Hakimi, Jawad El Yamiq, Achraf Dari, Noussair Mazraoui - Azzedine Ounahi, Sofyan Amrabat, Selim Amallah - Hakim Ziyech, Youssef En-Nesyri, Sofiane Boufal
PLAYERS WHO MAY MISS FRA vs MAR SEMIFINAL - INJURIES AND SUSPENSIONS
The biggest omission from the Morocco lineup will be captain Romain Saiss. The defender was subbed off and stretchered off in the team’s 1-0 win over Portugal.
Morocco’s Romain Saiss is carried away on a stretcher during Morocco vs Portugal quarterfinal. | Photo Credit: AFP
Saiss’ absence is the second one in the defence line for Morocco. Nayef Aguerd, another mainstay in the backline, is likely to not recover in time from his hamstring injury which made him sit the quarterfinal match out.
There was another injury scare to star forward Hakim Ziyech who suffered a knock and hobbled out from the Portugal game, but the Chelsea player looks to have overcome the problem and is likely to start the game.
Apart from the two defenders, forward Walid Cheddira will miss the match against France. The striker was booked twice in the quarterfinal and shown a red card.
For France, Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann got yellow cards in the quarterfinal match, but these cautions, their first in the tournament, will be removed for the semifinal.
When and where to watch
When will the France vs Morocco semifinal match kick-off?
The France vs Morocco semifinal match will kick-off at 12:30 am IST, December 15.
Where will the France vs Morocco semifinal match kick-off?
The France vs Morocco semifinal match will kick-off at the Al Bayt Stadium.
Where can you watch the France vs Morocco semifinal match in India?
The France vs Morocco semifinal match will be telecasted live on Sports18 and Sports18 HD. On Android and well as iOS, the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be live streamed on JioCinema.
Where can you watch the France vs Morocco semifinal match outside India?
Argentina – Live Stream: Telemundo
United States – TV: FOX, Telemundo; Live Stream: fuboTV, Fox Sports app, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo
Canada – TV: CTV, TSN; Live Stream: fuboTV, TSN app
United Kingdom – TV: BBC One; Live Stream: BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport Website
Australia – TV: SBS; Live Stream: SBS On Demand
New Zealand – TV: Sky Sports; Live Stream: Sky Sport
Malaysia – TV: RTM, Astro; Live Stream: Astro Go
Singapore – TV: Mediacorp Channel 5; Live Stream: StarHub TV+, IPTV, Singtel TV
Hong Kong – TV: BeIN Sports, ITV; Live Stream: Now TV, ViuTV
Nigeria – SuperSport and Showmax Pro.
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