The African country Morocco reached the semi-finals in the history of World Cup. Morocco wants to move closer to history by winning the semi-final against France. On the other hand, France`s goal is to win their 3rd World Cup. France wants to achieve its goal with a win against Morocco. African team Morocco will face France at Al Bayat Stadium in the second semi-final tonight at 1 PM Bangladesh time. Atlas Lions want to advance themselves to the finals just as the dream started. So far, no African team has been able to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup. Morocco became the first team from Africa to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup. Earlier, Morocco secured the semi-final after defeating Portugal 1-0 in the quarter-finals. On the other hand, Les Bleus (The Blues) are still on the right track in their mission to keep their dream of the World Cup for the second time in a row after defeating England 2-1 in a great match. Captain Harry Kane`s 84th minute penalty miss burned England`s forehead. And in this, the fate of France opens. Acknowledging that after the match, French coach Didier Deschamps said, luck has brought us to the semi-finals. A major title once again eluded the English. France took a 2-1 lead in the 78th minute when Olivier Giroud headed in Aurelien Tichuamesi`s powerful shot. Kane converted the first goal from the penalty spot in the 54th minute but missed the second. He sent the ball over the bar. France saved once again when Marcos Rashford`s free-kick narrowly missed the net in the final minute. They have maintained their hopes of winning the World Cup for the second time in a row.
Les Bleus (The Blues) were unbeaten in three previous World Cup semi-finals. But since then the opportunity has not been missed. The team played in the semi-finals in 1998, 2006 and 2018 and won the World Cup twice. After 84 years, France became the first European team since Italy in 1934 and 1938 to retain the World Cup title.
Before going to play in the semi-final against Morocco, France could not keep a clean sheet in any match in this World Cup. Les blues has to take extra precautions with Morocco. Meanwhile, defeating the three top teams Belgium, Spain and Portugal, Morocco came to play in the semi-finals, and the fairy tale was written. Most importantly, Morocco has not conceded a goal against any other opponent except against Canada. The goal was also an own goal in a 2-1 group stage win over Canada. And in this, goalkeeper Yassine Bounou’s skills have been proven. From this point of view, Walid Regragui`s team can be relieved to some extent. The last two teams to reach the final without conceding a goal in five matches were Italy in 2006 and Spain in 2010, who eventually won the World Cup. Only nine of the 45 shots against them have been on target so far. But it is only a matter of time before these things catch up to the pace of France. France are unbeaten in five previous matches against Morocco.
There are no injuries or suspensions in the France team before the last four. Jules Kunde replaces Benjamin Pavard in the starting line-up at right-back. Knowing the opportunity, Kunde is proving himself. Theo Hernandez, who got a place in the team due to the injury of Lucas Hernandez, continues to prove himself. If he can score today; Then France`s all-time top scorer Olivier Giroud will become the oldest player in World Cup history to score five goals in one tournament. France have won all 10 World Cup matches under Kylian Mbappe so far, despite a bit of a lull with England. Meanwhile, Moroccan striker Walid Cheddira, who received a yellow card with Portugal, cannot play in the semi-finals. Although West Ham`s Agard missed the previous match due to injury, he will play against France today. Meanwhile, while in the past, Morocco`s highest success in the World Cup was the second round, this time they made history by defeating Spain in the tiebreaker and reaching the quarter-finals. Defeating Cristiano Ronaldo`s Portugal in the quarter-finals and reaching the semi-finals, the football history of the country has given a different dimension to the World Cup. Having played in Mexico`s first World Cup in 1970, Morocco had to wait until 1986 to play their next World Cup. In another World Cup in Mexico, one of the African representatives played in the second round. After that in 1994, 1998 they played in the final stage but they had to depart from the group stage. After 1998, they could not reach the final stage of the four World Cups in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014. Morocco was unlucky not to make it to the second round despite playing well in Russia 2018. This time they are unexpectedly in the semi-finals. The Moroccan national football team has been following a specific policy for several years. That policy is being woven into a single thread of European-born Moroccan talent scattered across Europe. 14 of the 26-man squad of this year`s Moroccan team are footballers born in Europe or abroad. They are the ones who led Morocco to unexpected success. Yasin Bunu, the goalkeeper who saved the tiebreaker in the second round match against Spain, was born in Canada. He grew up there, became a footballer. He scored only one goal in this World Cup. PSG star Achraf Hakimi, who was born in Madrid, Spain, is the big star of the team.
Born in the Netherlands, Sofyan Amrabat has come to play in the Moroccan national team. He has established himself as the lifeblood of the team in the midfield. On the left wing, French-born Sophiefane is one of the driving forces behind the Sofiane Boufal’s attack. Another star, Hakim Jeesh, was also born and raised in the Netherlands. The Chelsea star was expected to wear the orange jersey of the Netherlands. He also held talks with former coach Ronald Koeman. But in the end he chose the red-green jersey of the motherland. Sofyan Amrabat’s story is the same. He was also supposed to play in the Netherlands team.
There are no shortage of big stars in Moroccan football. Ezaki Badu, Mehdi Benatia, Abder Rahman Mahjub, Salahdin Bashir, Abdel Majid Dolmi, Aziz Boudar Bala, Mohammad Timoni, Ahmed Faraj, Mustafa Haji, Nuruddin Neibat are not few legends. But the Moroccan Football Federation wants to strengthen the national team by looking for talent from there, since the Moroccan diaspora in Europe is about 500,000. According to that plan, they have successfully adopted special talent search programs in various European countries, such as France, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy. Being able to attract talented footballers born in different European countries, raised as footballers there and playing in Europe`s top leagues to the Moroccan jersey is also their big success.
JH
