Morocco’s defense in the first tournament of the European tournament – an example from Argentina, Spain, Serbia and Morocco – has it been a success
Morocco’s defense and goalkeeping have been stellar this World Cup. All tournament, Morocco had not allowed a goal by an opponent. They shut out European soccer powerhouses: Croatia, Belgium, Spain and Portugal. Canada is the only team credited with a score – but it was an own goal, put in the net by a Moroccan player.
The Moroccans have the meanest defense at the competition, conceding only a single own goal so far. Argentina has conceded less shots than the Atlas Lions because they have had the most difficult run to the last eight of all the quarterfinalists.
When teams do get shots off, they have to contend with Yassine “Bono” Bounou. The Sevilla keeper has not conceded a goal to an opposition player in over 300 minutes of football, including a penalty shootout where he saved two penalties.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s last match against Portugal in the final group e of the 2018 World Cup: a game without a star
In its previous game against Spain, a number of its key players were injured, leading to a list of games against nations ranked second, seventh and 12th in the world. The team will not be affected by that.
Regragui, head coach of the African squad, said, at some point in Africa, we have to be ambitious and win the World Cup.
For a second straight match, star Cristiano Ronaldo started the game on the bench for Portugal. The star of this tournament hasn’t been his usual efficient self, but he’s still one of the best to ever play the sport. His replacement Gonçalo Ramos, who scored three goals against Switzerland, didn’t make much of a mark. Ronaldo was substituted into the game in the 51st minute. He wiped away tears as he walked off the field after the game.
His replacement was no longer one of the most famous athletes, but was making his debut for the national team, and he made the most of it.
Portugal dominated the Swiss, thanks to the three goals scored by a 21-year-old Benfica forward. Miroslav Klose is the only player to score three goals on his debut in the World Cup.
Ramos is not the only one who has become free because of the absence of a star player. His former Manchester United teammate Bruno Fernandes was at his creative best and Atlético Madrid star João Félix looked like the player who has been long considered the man to take up the torch from Ronaldo.
The last time the two teams met was in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup in a frenetic game which Ronaldo settled with the only goal of the contest.
The last match in the tournament is between France and England who are on the verge of becoming the first team to reach three World Cup semifinals.
But Mbappé is not the only French threat going forward. On the opposite flank is Ousmane Dembélé who is not the complete product like Mbappé but is no less dangerous with his blistering pace and dribbling. During the tournament, he became France’s all-time record goal scorer while operating as a foil for the wide men.
“England will have prepared for Kylian, but he is in a position to make the difference,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. Kylian is the one that makes the difference and we have other players but not him.
Behind the front three is Atlético man Antoine Griezmann, who after a difficult few seasons, looks back to being the player who took both Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup by storm.
Despite the excellent performances of Harry Maguire and John Stones in the heart of the English defense so far, they have not been tested by anything close to this attack at a major tournament.
Along with Portugal, the Three Lions are the top scorers in Qatar. For the first time in this century they have won their previous two matches and come into this match with more depth in their team than the one who has been hampered by injuries.
Despite neither being guaranteed a starting spot, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jordan Henderson all have three goals a piece and have been performing well in the lineup. The captain added balance to the team by scoring the opener.
Remarkably, it was the first goal Morocco had conceded from an opposition player at the tournament and was the first time the team had trailed at Qatar 2022.
At the fan festival, thousands of fans crammed to watch the game on a big screen. They cheered every move, every shot and every time the players touched the ball. As the game ended, Tarig Saad was gleeful. He’s originally from Sudan and now lives in Saudi Arabia. He drove for ten hours to get there.
Asked why it’s taken this long for the African nation to have this kind of success? The competition is very high. Football has come to be seen as an industry. If we spent the same money as Portugal or Spain, we’d be better than Argentina or Brazil,” said Saad.
France is making history with two World Cup finals – Antoine Griezmann fails to equalize with Aurélien Tchouaméni
France is making history by becoming the first defending World Cup champion in two decades. France is attempting to win back-to-back World Cup titles.
It was a battle of the titans. In Russia four years ago, both teams made the semifinals of the World Cup. France is the defending champion and had sparkled in Qatar behind a bevy of stars including Kylian Mbappé who leads the tournament with five goals (he was mostly silenced in this contest).
France scored first. In the 17th minute, Antoine Griezmann (playing in his 72nd straight game) passed to Aurélien Tchouaméni who delivered a blistering strike from far outside the box to silence England 1-0.
England missed a chance to equalize in the 84th minute. Kane lined up for his second penalty kick of the game, but this time he struck it high above the cross bar.
England controlled possession for the entire game. They had more passes, crosses and shots. But it mattered not for France. No defending world champions had gone beyond the quarterfinals this century until today.
The Soccer of France: From the Past to the Present: The Case for Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and the Emergence of the “New Crusades”
Editor’s Note: Khaled A. Beydoun (@khaledbeydoun) is a law professor at Wayne State University in Detroit covering the World Cup in Qatar. He was the author of “The New Crusades: Islamophobia and the Global War on Muslims.” The views in this commentary are of his own. Read more opinion on CNN.
“History is not the past. It is the present. We keep our history with us. James Baldwin wrote that he was Black and the world branded him as inhuman.
France is favored to win this match, but more importantly, a globe of people who see themselves in their players in between the boundaries of Africa and beyond the outstretched arms of the formerly colonized world will see a team announcing, fearlessly and faithfully, that we are not your inferiors.
Many of the same people from Algeria and Tunisia are now living in France, between hijab bans and xenophobia. Or, in in the words of the late Palestinian intellectual Edward Said, perpetually “out of place” in a France that deems them eternal outsiders.
The victories of 1998 and 2018, therefore, were also indictments of France’s imperial past, because they moved many to brand the title holders “Africa’s championship team,” which placed the shadow of French colonial history around the brightest moments of its football glory.
While the 1998 team’s symbolism of unity faded from memory, the 2018 team – many of whom will be on the field again defending France’s title in Qatar – served as an admission that France needed the children of colonialism to lift World Cup gold.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the former President of France, had a meeting with the French Football Federation in 2008 to demand no more football matches be played in France because of the political division within the team.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward, twisting and turning in the box, had two efforts at goal blocked by despairing defenders, but the ball spun to Hernández, who acrobatically finished to give France an early advantage.
But Morocco, the first African team to reach the semifinal stage of the World Cup, can go home with its head held high after running France close before Kolo Muani’s decisive strike.
“Here we go again. It’s just an amazing feeling,” France captain Hugo Lloris said afterwards, per FIFA. “We suffered a lot, especially in the second half. We played too deep and they showed they’re not a team only focused on defending. They know how to attack. They have a lot of credit for the World Cup.
It wasn’t flustered France by the crowd support at the Al Bayt Stadium, but they took control of the game after a few minutes.
A slip from defender Jawad El Yamiq allowed the French international to break into the box, before heading towards Kylian Mbappé.
France kept attacking the rest of the half. There were two golden chances for the all time French scoring leader, including one that bounced off the left post.
First, his shot cannoned off the post as he broke towards the Morocco goal, before the AC Milan forward curled just wide shortly after Mbappé had been denied by Yassine Bounou.
Morocco’s riposte was El Yamiq’s brilliant bicycle kick, which came off the corner of the post, inches away from giving his country a route back into the semifinal.
The Atlas Lions couldn’t find an equalizing goal because they couldn’t score between an error or a last-ditch touch from a defender.
Morocco pushed and pushed, but to no avail and then Kolo Muani – just seconds after coming on as a substitute – tapped home a deflected effort to claim his first international goal and confirm France’s place in Sunday’s final.
According to Opta, Muani scored in 44 seconds, the third-fastest goal for a substitute in World Cup history.
Les Bleus et Mbapp’e: ‘Etude du monde entier pour l’extinction du spectre d’Enrico
For France, an mouthwatering final against Argentina at Lusail Stadium on Sunday will see Mbappé face his PSG teammate, Messi, as the two nations clash to decide the 2022 world champion.
Argentina is chasing a third title, while Les Bleus is attempting to become the first side to retain the World Cup since Brazil managed the feat 60 years ago.
A World Cup winner with France in 1998 and a Les Bleus coach, Deschamp said that his players want to savor their achievements.
This was an important match. There will be one last one,” Deschamps said, per FIFA. We have been with the players a month. It is never easy.
It has been fun until now, and the group has been compensated for the success. We’re going to go after the title on Sunday.
We are going to take some time. I tell this to my staff and players: ‘Take every moment in the day to really appreciate and savor the moment.’ In four days, we are going to play for a world title. We’ll enjoy it now and get ready for the last match of this World Cup.”
First half goalless result of the Atlas Lions at the World Cup 1988-2019 : A defeat for the first time since 1998 in a match with Saiss
The Atlas Lions suffered from many down moments, including the first half goal. The captain Romain Saiss was injured and replaced by a substitute in the 21st minute, while the other defensive player was pulled just before the start of the game.
France had reached the semifinals of a World Cup seven times. Brazil, West Germany, and 1986 were the first three that it lost. But it won the next four (Croatia 1998, Portugal, 2006, Belgium 2018 and Morocco 2022).