France and Morocco lock horns in the semi-finals at Qatar 2022.First competitive match between the two teams.Atlas Lions are the first African side to reach the last four at a FIFA World Cup .It is semi-final time at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, with reigning champions France set to take on Morocco.
The Atlas Lions have made football history by becoming the first African side to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup, while France are in the last four for the seventh time. Losers in their first three semis, Les Bleus have won the last three.
Team news :
📷صور الحصة التدريبية الأخيرة للمنتخب الوطني قبل لقاء الغد أمام منتخب فرنسا
Pictures of today’s training session before facing France 🇫🇷#DimaMaghrib 🇲🇦 #TeamMorocco #FIFAWorldCup @pumafootball pic.twitter.com/6PKiHXzUOT
— Équipe du Maroc (@EnMaroc) December 13, 2022
Didier Deschamps’s side should be at full-strength as they take the next step in their title defence.
Morocco’s Romain Saiss was stretchered off with a thigh injury against Portugal in the quarter-finals but hopes to be fit for this historic semi. Nayef Aguerd and Noussair Mazraoui are also injury doubts. Starting XIs (probable)
𝗗-𝟭 🇫🇷🇲🇦
⚡️ Heading for our 𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗶-𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹!#FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/lukTp84ig5— French Team ⭐⭐ (@FrenchTeam) December 13, 2022
France: Hugo Lloris; Jules Kounde, Raphael Varane, Dayot Upamecano, Theo Hernandez; Aurelien Tchouameni, Adrien Rabiot; Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe; Olivier Giroud
Morocco: Yassine Bounou; Achraf Hakimi, Jawad El-Yamiq, Romain Saiss, Yahya Attiat-Allah; Azzedine Ounahi, Sofyan Amrabat, Selim Amallah; Hakim Ziyech, Youssef En-Nesyri, Sofiane Boufal
Match officials:
Referee: Cesar Ramos (MEX) Assistant referee: Alberton Morin (MEX), Miguel Hernandez (MEX) Fourth official: Jesus Valenzuela (VEN)
Head to head:
France and Morocco have never played each other before at the FIFA World Cup.
The two sides have met three times at the Mediterranean Games. France won 2-0 in 1967, with the other two games ending 1-1 and 0-0, in 1975 and 1987 respectively.
France have won three and drawn one out of four matches between the two countries in the Four Nations Tournament and the Hassan II Cup, both of them friendly competitions. Their last friendly, played in November 2007, ended in a 2-2 draw, with Sidney Govou and Samir Nasri on target for France and Tarik Sektioui and Youssef Mokhtari scoring for Morocco.
France coach Didier Deschamps said,“Well done to them, to Walid Regragui and his coaching staff. With all due respect, few people expected them to get this far but here they are. On Wednesday they’ll have one thing on their minds, just like us: to make it to the Final, which is what you’d expect. We have a lot of respect for them. We’ve seen they’ve done and what they are capable of doing and we will be nothing but grounded in giving this match the preparation that it deserves.”
Morocco midfielder Sofiane Boufal, said,“It’s just crazy. We’re living a dream and don’t want to wake up. It’s so incredible that I don’t have words anymore. We’ve worked for everything we’ve got, but it’s not over yet. I get goosebumps just talking about it. It’s incredible.”
Venue:Al Bayt Stadium
Bengali