France vs. Morocco final score, result – World Cup 2022: The “dark horse” was knocked down.

Match summary

Morocco did not hide the intention of a lurking defensive play by arranging a 4-5-1 formation with only striker El Nesyri. However, the power of the reigning champion quickly caused Walid Regragui's calculations to fail.

After only 5 minutes since the opening whistle, France opened the scoring. Starting from Raphael Varane's pass from the midfiled, Antoine Griezmann escaped a Morocco player to get the ball and quickly delivered it to Kylian Mbappe. The PSG striker failed to finish, but the ball still found Theo Hernandez's position. The Milan defender launched a beautiful shot, defeating Yassine Bouno (Bono) from close range.

France's opening score in the 5th minute.

The early goal put Walid Regragui's players in a difficult position. They were forced to give up the stalking game to find an equalizer, accepting the risk of being counter-attacked. Thanks to the support from thousands of spectators at Al Bayt, the North African representative confidently deployed the ball in the middle of the field and on two flanks, making Hugo Lloris had a difficult first half.

One of the clearest chances for Morocco came in the 10th minute when Ounahi launched a rocket from a distance of 23 meters, but Lloris successfully blocked it. And in the 45th minute, Jawad El Yamiq made a bicycle kick in the France penalty area, but the ball hit the post after Lloris denied it with his fingertips.

The 2018 world champions also had obvious opportunities to raise the score, especially striker Olivier Giroud, but the greatest striker in the history of "Les Bleus" could not score even when Morocco's goal was empty in the 17th and 36th minutes.

In the second half, the "Atlas Lions" put suffocating pressure on France’s defensive line by creating many dangerous attempts. However, none of them were successfully converted.

On the other side, France played pragmatically in the second half. Coach Didier Deschamps also withdrew Giroud to rest to launch Marcus Thuram, son of the legendary son Lilian Thuram, to serve counter-attack situations. And this change made Morocco's defense quite difficult.

In the 79th minute, the defending World Cup champion doubled the gap, according to the same scenario as the opening goal. Mbappe finished unsuccessfully in the penalty area, but the ball still found a teammate's position, Kolo Muani. No. 12 scored on the first touch of the ball after entering the field from the bench.

France's second goal in the 79th minute.

The remaining time was not enough for Morocco to turn the situation around. The match at Al Bayt ended with a 2-0 victory for the European representative.

Final score

- FRA - T. Hernandez (5')

- FRA - R. Colonel (79')

Squad

France: Lloris; Koundé, Varane, Konaté, Théo Hernandez; Tchouaméni, Fofana; Dembélé (Kolo Muani 78'), Griezmann, Mbappé; Giroud (Marcus Thuram 65')

Morocco: Bounou, Hakimi, Mazraouni (Attia Allah 46'), Amrabat, Guerd, Saiss (Selim Amallah 27' -  Ezzalzouli 78'), Ziyech, Ounahi, Boufal (Aboukhlal 66'), Yamiq, En-Nesyri (Hamdallah 66')

Highlights

Mbappe and his teammates will face Lionel Messi's Argentina in the final match at Lusail Stadium on December 18.

On the side of Morocco, the incredible journey of the North African team has not stopped. They will face Croatia in the third-place match on December 17.