The French national team has qualified for the World Cup final after defeating Morocco 2-0 in the semi-final match held on Wednesday evening, which was attended by French President Emmanuel Macron.
France, the defending champion, will face Argentina in the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup next Sunday at 5 PM at Lusail Stadium, with both teams aiming for their third title—France having won in 1998 and 2018, and Argentina in 1978 and 1986.
The first goal came when Theo Hernandez turned a cross into the net of Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou just five minutes into the match, taking advantage of a defensive mix-up during an attack led by Kylian Mbappe. Hernandez has only scored once for the French team, during a match against Belgium on October 7 of last year in the UEFA Nations League.
Moroccan Jawad El Yamiq almost equalized with a superb overhead kick that would have gone down in World Cup history, but it hit the right post of Hugo Lloris' goal, amid a remarkable late first-half surge from the Moroccans that caused trouble for the French defense. Notably, the right post also denied Olivier Giroud's shot in the 17th minute.
Morocco continued to apply pressure in the second half, but the Atlas Lions could not convert any of their chances against Lloris. Eventually, Kolo Muani settled the match with a second logical goal for France in the 79th minute.
France managed to end the resilience of goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, who had not conceded any goals in the knockout stages of the tournament, against Spain and Portugal in the round of 16 and quarter-finals, respectively.
Throughout this match, Morocco conceded its second and third goals in the current World Cup, having previously scored its first two against its own players, with the first one being an own goal by Nayef Aguerd against Canada.
