Both France and Morocco have surpassed the pre-tournament expectations that fans and experts had of them in unique ways.
To compete against Argentina in the final and advance toward winning the greatest honor in football, one of the nations will now need to put their best foot forward.
Few people anticipated that France would make it this far and possibly repeat their exploits and success from four years ago in Russia.
Nobody anticipated this relatively inexperienced team would advance this far into the tournament without key contributors Kante, Benzema, and Pogba.
However, Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud, the team’s oldest player and currently France’s all-time leading scorer, have taken the initiative.
The French have effectively eliminated the majority of their opponents, displaying strong offense and defense. Even though they won their most recent game against England, they did display some signs of vulnerability.
While France applies pressure, Morocco will look to take advantage of these tiny openings. To the surprise of many, including perhaps a sizable portion of their supporters, Morocco has been the most disciplined team in this tournament, allowing only 1 goal the entire time, and that goal was an own goal.
Morocco has won without allowing a goal against Spain, Portugal, and Belgium as they advance to the World Cup semifinals and make history by becoming the first country from Africa to do so. Although luck may have played a minor role, their unity as a team has allowed them to overcome all challenges.
France vs Morocco predicted starting XIs
France XI (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Kounde, Varane, Upamecano, Hernandez; Tchouameni, Rabiot; Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe; Giroud
Morocco XI (4-1-4-1): Bono; Attiyat Allah, Saiss, El Yamiq, Hakimi; Amrabat; Zieych, Ounahi, Amallah, Boufal; En-Nesyri
