Gavin Cooney
reports from the Al Bayt Stadium, Qatar
France 2
Morocco 0
AT THE END Moroccan bodies crumpled one-by-one, sinking into the desert sands with no more to give. The air stood stilted and almost silent, the seething atmosphere created by their support throughout the tournament suddenly replaced by a kind of empty, ringing void.
That space had been filled with unbelievable – unbearable – dreams but now, suddenly and finally, nothing.
Morocco's Azzedine Ounahi sits dejected. PA
PA
It was ended in that truly irritating way pioneered by this French team whose surfeit of individual brilliance yet again compensated for the relative poverty of their collective ability.
But goals at either end of the game by Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani mean France will return to the World Cup final against Argentina on Sunday, where they will aim to become the first side to defend this trophy in 60 years.
Morocco, who did more than any other team to edify this disesteemed World Cup, will play Croatia for the consolation prize of third place.
They should also be consoled by the bravery and wit of their performance tonight, where they emerged from adversity to show they are far more than merely Greece 2004 reincarnate. Tonight they conceded after only five minutes and lost one defender after another to take this game to France, ultimately undone by a combination of Kylian Mbappe, poor finishing and wretched luck.
Coming into the game we thought Morocco had lost first-choice defenders Nayef Aguerd, Romain Saiss and Noussair Mazraoui: by half-time they had lost them twice. All three were named to start in a back five but Aguerd withdrew from the warm-up, Saiss left after 20 minutes, and Mazraoui didn’t appear after half-time.
Captain Saiss limped off after failing a remedial-level fitness test: outpaced by Olivier Giroud. He should have easily cleaned up a long ball over the top but instead hobbled too slowly over to it, allowing Giroud to nab possession and slam the ball off the post.
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Saiss’ departure bookended a horror start for Morocco. They have been at their best in this competition when patient without possession, folding into their compact shape, but five minutes into the biggest game of his life, a skittery Jawad El-Yamiq shot out of his defensive line for a ball he couldn’t win, which allowed Antoine Griezmann glide behind him.
Mbappe saw two shots blocked but the second arced and bounced up for Theo Hernandez, who starfished himself into the air to steer the ball past Bono. The goal instantly punctured the blanket of whistles coming from the steep stands of the Al-Bayt Stadium. It took a few unsteady minutes for them to return.
Theo Hernandez scores the first goal. Xinhua News Agency / PA Images
Xinhua News Agency / PA Images / PA Images
Saiss’ injury absence forced Regragui to revert to a back four but it suited them better, allowing their midfield outnumber France’s rather callow duo. The fabulous Azzedine Ounahi forced Hugo Lloris into a smart save from distance and consistently found space behind Aurelien Tchouameni and Youssouf Fofana, slipping a delightful pass through for Hakimi which Ibrahima Konate – restored in place of the ill Dayot Upamecano – blocked superbly.
France are a baffling side in the sense that they have the best collection of players on the planet and yet forever seem to get to play on the counter-attack, but this is helped by the fact Mbappe seems to teleport to through passes rather than merely run onto them. Thus he appeared behind Hakimi and saw a shot hacked away in front of the line by El-Yamiq, Giroud then spiralling a follow-up shot wide.
El-Yamiq’s drama-drenched first-half had one more act, when he saw an audacious overhead kick bounce off the post.
After half-time Morocco did the boldest thing imaginable: they strode past the greatest French strength and made it a weakness. Hakimi pushed high and wide and left Mbappe behind him, knowing he wasn’t going to track back.
Thus Hakimi and Ziyech combined to shred the lonely Theo Hernandez, with the bulk of Morocco’s best attacks coming down that flank. En-Nesyri swiped at and missed a cross that substitute Yahya Attia Allah then missed too, only for moments later to see his square pass for En-Nesyri cut out by another fabulous Konate interception. Theo was hopelessly overwhelmed, though Mbappe remained exquisitely disinterested in helping out.
Morocco’s bravery turned the second-half into a kind of yo-yoing madness: at one point Mbappe took off from his own half, knocked the ball down the line to draw out Achraf and hurtle by him too, eventually left in a crumpled heap on the endline by Amrabat.
Didier Deschamps could take no more of the bloodletting on the wing in front of him, taking off Giroud, pushing Mbappe into the centre and putting Marcus Thuram on to deal with Hakimi, perhaps in the hope he had inherited some defensive traits from his father.
But there is a great cruelty latent in this French team. They sail choppily through whole swathes of games to give all opponents hope, and then have the individual quality to shatter anyone in the moment of prime hope. Thus it proved 11 minutes from the end of this game.
Mbappe, forced closer to the goal by Morocco’s approach, danced into the penalty area, swerved by three players and saw a deflected show roll perfectly for substitute Randal Kolo Muani, who could scarcely have dreamed of a dreamier first-touch.
The Moroccan players rubbed their faces and hung their heads, fans wept in the stadiums, the thick, palpable atmosphere dissolved and dissipated into the night sky.
They should at least have scored before the end, but Jules Kounde blocked Hamdallah’s close-range shot off the line in stoppage time.
It took the Moroccan players a few minutes to gather themselves and commune with their support, absorb the sickening reality they were close to achieving something truly great.
But that’s the cruel trick this French team often pull.
And next they will toy with Lionel Messi’s dream.
France: Hugo Lloris; Jules Kounde, Raphael Varane, Ibrahima Konate, Theo Hernandez; Aurelien Tchoumaeni, Youssouf Fofana; Ousmane Dembele (Randal Kolo Muani, 78′), Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe; Olivier Giroud (Marcus Thuram, 65′)
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France end Morocco's magnificent World Cup journey
France 2
Morocco 0
AT THE END Moroccan bodies crumpled one-by-one, sinking into the desert sands with no more to give. The air stood stilted and almost silent, the seething atmosphere created by their support throughout the tournament suddenly replaced by a kind of empty, ringing void.
That space had been filled with unbelievable – unbearable – dreams but now, suddenly and finally, nothing.
It was ended in that truly irritating way pioneered by this French team whose surfeit of individual brilliance yet again compensated for the relative poverty of their collective ability.
But goals at either end of the game by Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani mean France will return to the World Cup final against Argentina on Sunday, where they will aim to become the first side to defend this trophy in 60 years.
Morocco, who did more than any other team to edify this disesteemed World Cup, will play Croatia for the consolation prize of third place.
They should also be consoled by the bravery and wit of their performance tonight, where they emerged from adversity to show they are far more than merely Greece 2004 reincarnate. Tonight they conceded after only five minutes and lost one defender after another to take this game to France, ultimately undone by a combination of Kylian Mbappe, poor finishing and wretched luck.
Coming into the game we thought Morocco had lost first-choice defenders Nayef Aguerd, Romain Saiss and Noussair Mazraoui: by half-time they had lost them twice. All three were named to start in a back five but Aguerd withdrew from the warm-up, Saiss left after 20 minutes, and Mazraoui didn’t appear after half-time.
Captain Saiss limped off after failing a remedial-level fitness test: outpaced by Olivier Giroud. He should have easily cleaned up a long ball over the top but instead hobbled too slowly over to it, allowing Giroud to nab possession and slam the ball off the post.
Saiss’ departure bookended a horror start for Morocco. They have been at their best in this competition when patient without possession, folding into their compact shape, but five minutes into the biggest game of his life, a skittery Jawad El-Yamiq shot out of his defensive line for a ball he couldn’t win, which allowed Antoine Griezmann glide behind him.
Mbappe saw two shots blocked but the second arced and bounced up for Theo Hernandez, who starfished himself into the air to steer the ball past Bono. The goal instantly punctured the blanket of whistles coming from the steep stands of the Al-Bayt Stadium. It took a few unsteady minutes for them to return.
Saiss’ injury absence forced Regragui to revert to a back four but it suited them better, allowing their midfield outnumber France’s rather callow duo. The fabulous Azzedine Ounahi forced Hugo Lloris into a smart save from distance and consistently found space behind Aurelien Tchouameni and Youssouf Fofana, slipping a delightful pass through for Hakimi which Ibrahima Konate – restored in place of the ill Dayot Upamecano – blocked superbly.
France are a baffling side in the sense that they have the best collection of players on the planet and yet forever seem to get to play on the counter-attack, but this is helped by the fact Mbappe seems to teleport to through passes rather than merely run onto them. Thus he appeared behind Hakimi and saw a shot hacked away in front of the line by El-Yamiq, Giroud then spiralling a follow-up shot wide.
El-Yamiq’s drama-drenched first-half had one more act, when he saw an audacious overhead kick bounce off the post.
After half-time Morocco did the boldest thing imaginable: they strode past the greatest French strength and made it a weakness. Hakimi pushed high and wide and left Mbappe behind him, knowing he wasn’t going to track back.
Thus Hakimi and Ziyech combined to shred the lonely Theo Hernandez, with the bulk of Morocco’s best attacks coming down that flank. En-Nesyri swiped at and missed a cross that substitute Yahya Attia Allah then missed too, only for moments later to see his square pass for En-Nesyri cut out by another fabulous Konate interception. Theo was hopelessly overwhelmed, though Mbappe remained exquisitely disinterested in helping out.
Morocco’s bravery turned the second-half into a kind of yo-yoing madness: at one point Mbappe took off from his own half, knocked the ball down the line to draw out Achraf and hurtle by him too, eventually left in a crumpled heap on the endline by Amrabat.
Didier Deschamps could take no more of the bloodletting on the wing in front of him, taking off Giroud, pushing Mbappe into the centre and putting Marcus Thuram on to deal with Hakimi, perhaps in the hope he had inherited some defensive traits from his father.
But there is a great cruelty latent in this French team. They sail choppily through whole swathes of games to give all opponents hope, and then have the individual quality to shatter anyone in the moment of prime hope. Thus it proved 11 minutes from the end of this game.
Mbappe, forced closer to the goal by Morocco’s approach, danced into the penalty area, swerved by three players and saw a deflected show roll perfectly for substitute Randal Kolo Muani, who could scarcely have dreamed of a dreamier first-touch.
The Moroccan players rubbed their faces and hung their heads, fans wept in the stadiums, the thick, palpable atmosphere dissolved and dissipated into the night sky.
They should at least have scored before the end, but Jules Kounde blocked Hamdallah’s close-range shot off the line in stoppage time.
It took the Moroccan players a few minutes to gather themselves and commune with their support, absorb the sickening reality they were close to achieving something truly great.
But that’s the cruel trick this French team often pull.
And next they will toy with Lionel Messi’s dream.
France: Hugo Lloris; Jules Kounde, Raphael Varane, Ibrahima Konate, Theo Hernandez; Aurelien Tchoumaeni, Youssouf Fofana; Ousmane Dembele (Randal Kolo Muani, 78′), Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe; Olivier Giroud (Marcus Thuram, 65′)
Morocco: Bono; Achraf Hakimi; Jawad El-Yamiq, Achraf Dari, Romain Saiss (captain) (Selim Masallah, 20′) (Ezzaloui, 77′); Noussair Mazraoui (Yahya Attia Allah, HT); Sofyan Amrabat, Azzedine Ounahi; Hakim Ziyech, Youssef En-Nesyri (Abderazak Hamdallah, 66′), Sofiane Boufal (Zakaria Aboukhlal, 66′)
Referee: Cesar Ramos (Mexico)
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2022 World Cup France Morocco the journey ends