DOHA, Dec 15 (EW): Defending champions France put an end to Morocco’s dream run in the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022 with a dominating 2-0 victory in the second semi-final and set a blockbuster final with Lione Messi’s Argentina.
Morocco’s dream of stretching their astounding run to the final for the first time in history came to a frustrating end after a dominating display from defending champions denied their chances of world cup glory.
Morocco, best known for their defence, witnessed Theo Hernandez opening the scoring for holders France inside the five minutes of the semi-final.
France cut Morocco open down the inside right channel Raphael Varane released Antoine Griezmann, who offloaded it back to Kylian Mbappe.
Mbappe then saw his two strikes blocked. However, the rebound from his second attempt fell kindly for Hernandez to score with a fine finish.
Despite conceding an early goal, spirited Morocco continue to fight the strong French attack and kept them silent for more than an hour before Randal Kolo Muani doubled France’s lead in the 80th minute to put the defending champions in complete command.
Mbappe cause havoc in the final third as he twisted and turned to fire towards the goal. His effort, however, once again went in vain but fell kindly for Muani to steer the ball crashing into the nets.
Following this victory, France qualified for their fourth FIFA World Cup Final where they will take on Messi’s Argentina in a bid to become the first side to successfully defend the title after Brazil.
Meanwhile, Morocco will go on to take Croatia in the third-place match on Saturday.
