France didn’t dominate in the quarterfinals vs. England or the semifinals vs. Morocco. But Les Bleus have mastered winning the moments that decide World Cup games, explains BrianStraus FIFAWorldCup
AL KHOR, Qatar—Just about every French touch, and every one of their surprisingly infrequent forays into the opposition half, was greeted with the shrill whistle of thousands.
These Atlas Lions were already legendary before stepping onto the field with the reigning world champions on Wednesday. Led by a French-born coach and French-born captain, Morocco stunned Croatia and Belgium in the group stage then ousted Mediterranean neighbors Spain and Portugal, yielding just one own goal across its five matches. With each step, support swelled. The euphoric scenes on streets throughout Morocco were matched here in Qatar and in expat communities in Europe and elsewhere.
Mbappé’s battle with the Moroccans defense was fierce, but the French winger ultimately was a difference-maker.Morocco’s spell was broken by the fifth-minute breakdown, but its will remained intact. It handled the early deficit with poise. Saïss’s injury forced a tactical adjustment and with four defenders instead of five, the Lions were able to find their footing going forward.
In the 65th minute, Deschamps shifted Mbappé to center forward in place of the tiring Olivier Giroud and inserted Marcus Thuram, whose father, Lilian, was the hero of France’s 1998 semifinal triumph, at left wing. That flank was strengthened, while Mbappé became more available as a target on the counter. Morocco was doomed.
Regragui said, “We wanted to try to score to make them doubt their lead, but unfortunately you pay for any mistakes you make, and we did.” That semifinal was played before a very blue-and-white crowd at Lusail on Tuesday. The collective desire to see Messi finally check off that last, gilded box and cement his special level of immortality may be even stronger than the wind that’s been at Morocco’s back. France is the efficient favorite, the team with all the advantages. But it's not going to garner much sympathy here. Les Bleus were the antagonist in Morocco’s story on Wednesday, and they’ll probably be that again in the final.
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