France will face Argentina in the FIFA World Cup final after eliminating Morocco, 2-0, in a semifinal Wednesday in Khor, Qatar. The defending champions advanced past a Moroccan side that had upset European soccer powers Spain and Portugal to become the first African nation and first Arab nation to reach the World Cup’s final four. Les Bleus will face Lionel Messi and Argentina on Sunday. Morocco will play Croatia in the third-place game Saturday.
Not since Brazil in 1958 and 1962 has a team won back-to-back World Cup titles. France, after topping Morocco, 2-0, in its semifinal Wednesday, will try to become the next when it faces Argentina in Sunday’s final.
The French decoded a stingy Moroccan defense early in this match with help from Moroccan defender Jawad El Yamiq, who overplayed a ball to Antoine Griezmann. The French star broke loose in the Moroccan area in the fifth minute. He shipped the ball inside to Kylian Mbappé, the defense collapsed, and both of Mbappé’s shots were blocked. Theo Hernández fired the second rebound into the net to give France the lead.
France and Morocco exchanged places as the aggressor, with Morocco’s turn late in the second half producing El Yamiq’s 44th-minute bicycle kick that nearly equalized in spectacular fashion, before French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris recognized then repelled the threat at the last moment.
In the second half, a usually defensive-postured Moroccan team developed promising sequences through a shorthanded French midfield, stretching Les Bleus’ defense to create 53rd and 54th-minute opportunities by Sofyan Amrabat and Yahya Attiat-Allah, which missed wide.
But in the 79th minute, Randal Kolo Muani closed the door, scoring off a blocked Mbappé attempt. Morocco, the first African team to play in a World Cup semifinal, will face Croatia in the third-place game Saturday.
