France defeat Morocco 2-0, set up final with Argentina

The second semfinal of the Qatar World Cup is a match that no one saw coming at the start of the tournament.

At one end, there is France. The team that had lifted the trophy four years back in Russia and in spite of many injuries arrived in Qatar as one of the main title contenders.

At the other end, there is Morocco. A team nobody fancied too much, including their fans.

A qualification to the second round would’ve been enough to call their campaign a success. But the Marrakesh Express has ran through teams like Spain and Portugal at the knockout stage to become the first African and Arab team in history to reach the final four of the FIFA World Cup.

But now, they are up against two-time world champions France, who want to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cup titles.

Whoever wins at the Al Khor Stadium on Wednesday, will face Argentina on 18 December in the biggest game in all of football. On the other hand, the losing team would have to settle for the third-place decider match against Croatia on 17 December.

France: Hugo Lloris (c), Jules Kounde, Raphael Varane, Ibrahima Konate, Theo Hernandez, Antoine Griezmann, Aurelien Tchouameni, Youssouf Fofana, Ousmane Dembele, Olivier Giroud and Kylian Mbappe

Morocco: Yassine Bounou, Jawad El Yamiq, Romain Saiss (c), Nayef Aguerd, Achraf Hakimi, Sofyan Amrabat, Azzedine Ounahi, Noussair Mazraoui, Hakim Ziyech, Youssef En-Nesyri and Sofiane Boufal

Kylian Mbappe has been France's go to man in the Qatar World Cup whenever they have needed a goal. He is currently the joint highest goal-scorer in the tournament alongside Argentina's Lionel Messi with five goals.

The Moroccan player who will be tasked to stop Mbappe down the left-hand side will be Achraf Hakimi.

Coincidentally, both Mbappe and Hakimi play their club football for French side Paris Saint Germain. Both players are also great friends and before the tournament quipped they will take out each other if they end up meeting in the World Cup.

Today, their friendship will be put on hold for the duration of the game and at the end of it, one of them is likely to console the other after a heartbreaking defeat in the semifinal.

Group Stage

Morocco v Croatia: 0-0

Morocco v Belgium: 2-0

Morocco v Canada: 2-1

Round of 16

Morocco v Spain: 0-0 (3-0 on penalties)

Quarterfinal

Morocco v Portugal: 1-0

Group Stage

France v Australia: 4-1

France v Denmark: 2-1

France v Tunisia: 0-1

Round of 16

France v Poland: 3-1

Quarterfinal

France v England: 2-1

Hernandez gave France the lead inside five minutes of the semifinal match from a goalmouth melee.

Griezmann took a sharp turn to get inside the box, before squaring the ball to Mbappe. Mbappe's shot got saved but the deflection took the ball to Hernandez, whose left-footed strike found the back of the net.

This is the first time Morocco has conceded a goal from the opponent.

Morocco is trying to conjure up a response with some enticing runs around the France box. Ounahi had a go at the France goal but Lloris was up to the task, as he dived full stretch to his left to save the right footed strike.

Ziyech swings the ball in from a free-kick 30 yards away from the box, but France easily avert the danger.

Boufal made an impressive run through the midfield before passing the ball to Ziyech. But he couldn't get the shot away cleanly, slipping right before his attempt, which went wide.

Giroud took a fierce shot at the Morocco goal from a counter-attack. But his shot was just slightly off target, rattling the post instead of getting inside the goal.

IN: Amallah

OUT: SAISS

Morocco's Boufal sees the first yellow card of the match, for fouling Hernandez inside the France d-box.

First corner of the game goes to France. Griezmann's delivery was initially deflected by the defenders. French defender Fofana attempted a shot at goal from the deflection, but his shot was way off target.

Tchouameni's pass found Mbappe in the box, but his shot was cleared by Hakimi. But Hernandez again sends the ball inside the box to Giroud, who rushed his attempt and missed the target.

Griezmann took a grounded corner kick, which reached Varane but his attempt went wide.

Hakimi wins a corner for Morocco. Ziyech takes the kick, which gets deflected and reaches Morocco defender Yamiq at the edge of the box. He attempted an ambitous bicycle kick, which was saved by Lloris.

Morocco had a succession of attempts at the France goal at the final five minutes of the first half, but the French have somehow held onto their one goal lead and are now potentially 45 minutes away from a World Cup final against Argentina on 18 December.

France took an early lead, thanks to Hernandez's sharp finish from inside the box.

As the minutes went on, Morocco looked more settled and at the final minutes of the first half came close to equalising multiple times. But till now, their attempts have fell short.

Amrabat stops Mbappe at the edge of the Morocco box with a strong tackle. Mbappe stays down for a minute, before slowly getting back on his feet.

Hakimi's cross from the right side very nearly went straight to the outstretched leg of En-Nesyri before Varane saves France with a timely clearance.

Boufal then sends a cross from the left side, this time Konate saves France with a clearance.

IN: Thurram

OUT: Giroud

IN: Hamdallah, Abdoukhlal

OUT: En-Nesyri, Boufal

Abdoukhlal nearly found himself at the receiving end of Attiyat-Allah's pass, before Lloris grabbed the ball. However, replay showed that Abdoukhlal was in fact off side.

Griezmann takes the free kick, Thuram gets to the ball, but his header is off target.

Thuram recovers the ball from the midfield, surges down the left, passes the ball to Fofana at the middle, but his shot is off target.

IN: Ezzalzouli

OUT: Amallah

OUT: Dembele

IN: Muani

Muani scores 44 second after getting subbed in, tapping the ball home after Mbappe skipped past three players to give him a pitch perfect pass.

Defending champions France defeated Morocco 2-0 in somewhat unconvincing manner to set up a mouth watering World Cup final with Argentina.

France took the lead inside five minutes, thanks to Fernandez's goal. In the second half, Morocco pushed hard for an equaliser, but they were not as clinical in front of the goal as were their French counterparts.

The contest virtually ended when substitute Muani scored his first international goal to make it 2-0 for France.

Both teams only had three shots on target, but unlike Morocco, France made their attempts count.

Now, France are one step closer to becoming the third ever country to win consecutive World Cups after Italy and Brazil.

But to achieve that, they will have to go past Lionel Messi's Argentina in the final.