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Photos: France charge into final to end Morocco’s World Cup dream

Morocco, the first African team to ever play in a World Cup semifinal, fought hard against the reigning champions.

Achraf Hakimi and Kylian Mbappe
Morocco's Achraf Hakimi and France's Kylian Mbappe, normally teammates at Paris St Germaine, met head-to-head in the semifinal [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]
By Sorin Furcoi and Wojtek Arciszewski
Published On 14 Dec 2022

Al Khor, Qatar – France have put an end to Morocco’s dream of reaching a World Cup final, with a 2-0 victory that puts them on a path towards a potentially epic second straight World Cup victory.

Twenty-three-year-old phenom Kylian Mbappe was pivotal to both of France’s goals. His deflected effort barely five minutes into Wednesday’s match set up Theo Hernandez, while a magnificent attempt in the 79th minute led to Randal Kolo Muani’s easy tap-in to put the tense game to bed.

Morocco, the first African team to ever play in a World Cup semifinal, was causing problems for the reigning world champions throughout the encounter at Al Bayt Stadium, as they dominated possession and kept French keeper Hugo Lloris busy.

The Atlas Lions will now face 2018 finalists Croatia in the third-place playoff on Saturday, which will end their storybook run at the first World Cup to be held in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, 2018 winners France dream of their own fairytale ending, hoping to become the first back-to-back winners since Brazil in 1958 and 1962.

On Sunday, they will face Argentina at Lusail Stadium, with Mbappe and Argentina legend Lionel Messi set to lead the two sides into a highly anticipated battle on the pitch.

Bono #1
Morocco keeper Yassine "Bono" Bounou faced his hardest test of the World Cup, having only let in one goal up until this point in the tournament [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]
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Morroco fans
A sea of red and green dominated the crowd that packed Al Bayt Stadium [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]
Theo Hernandez #22 after scoring their side's first goa
Picking up a blocked shot by Kylian Mbappe, Theo Hernandez drove the ball in with an acrobatic kick to put France ahead [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]
Hugo Lloris #1 makes finger tip save
Morocco's Jawad El-Yamiq's beautiful bicycle kick would have been one of the goals of the tournament, if French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris did not produce a spectacular fingertip save [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]
Kylian Mbappe
Mbappe moves on to Sunday's World Cup final where he will lead France against an Argentina side captained by Lionel Messi [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]
Morocco v France
Morocco dominated possession throughout most of the match but failed to find the back of the net [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]
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Kylian Mbappe #10 in action with Sofyan Amrabat #4
Mbappe chases Sofyan Amrabat, one of Morocco's outstanding players throughout the tournament in Qatar [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]
Yahya Attiat-Allah #25 in action with Jules Kounde #5.
Morocco finished the first half on the front foot and re-established dominance in the second half, but were unable to break the deadlock [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]
Hugo Lloris #1 making a save
Lloris will hope to keep another clean sheet in Sunday's final at Lusail Stadium [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]
Randal Kolo Muani #12 scores Frances second goal
After a beautiful Mbappe effort, Randal Kolo Muani had an easy job to score France's second goal from close range [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]
Randal Kolo Muani #12 comforts Moroccan player
Kolo Muani comforts Morocco player Azzedine Ounahi after the final whistle [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]
French players celebrating
France players celebrate reaching their second consecutive final [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]