2022 FIFA World Cup: France reach the final

On December 14, the second semi-final match took place at the World Cup in Qatar. The French team broke the resistance of Morocco (2:0) and reached the final, where they will play with Argentina. Morocco will take on Croatia in the bronze medal match.

It was an evening when the atmosphere was heated to the limit, and the spirit of historical confrontation did not give anyone peace. Before the match, Moroccan midfielder Sofyan Amrabat said: “The match will be tough, France have a great team. She won the last world championship. It will be difficult, but we have already met with very good opponents. We are confident in our chances.”

The only thing that the Moroccans could not foresee was a missed goal at the very beginning of the match. This ruined all the plans of Walid Regraga, so the Morocco national team coach had to change tactics during the game. It was the first time Regragi had put a back five on the field, and it seemed that this was supposed to provide security at the gate. However, already 5 minutes after the starting whistle of the referee, the defender of the “tricolors” Rafael Varane cut the line of defense of the Moroccans with an elegant pass and rolled the ball to Griezmann. After a bit of confusion in the center of the free ball bounced to the left-back of the French Theo Hernandez, who performed a chic acrobatic trick, hitting the goal in a spectacular fall “scissors”. This is only the second goal conceded by the Moroccans in this tournament and became the fastest goal in the semi-finals of the World Cup since 1958. Then the Brazilian Vava scored in the second minute – just France. At the same time, Hernandez already has three effective actions at the World Cup in Qatar: in two starting games of the group stage against Australia (4:1) and Denmark (2:1), he scored assists.

After this goal scored, France completely gave the initiative to the Africans, for the first time they saw a scenario in front of them, according to which it was necessary to actively attack and press. The French, on the other hand, quickly mimicked into a counterattacking team, which closed in the classic 4-4-2 formation and sat on the defensive, waiting for the moment to break out into the vacated space. However, this tactic played a cruel joke on the French, who were frankly driven around the field at the end of the first and the beginning of the second half.

The second goal of the French team also turned out to be very beautiful. Kylian Mbappe made a spectacular solo pass through the center, beating several opponents at once. He tried to shoot on goal, but instead it turned out to be a great cross on a teammate who entered the field only 44 seconds before the goal was scored. Forward of the German “Eintracht” Randal Kolo Muani scored his first goal for the national team with the first touch. The ball was also one of the fastest coming off the bench in World Cup history. Only Richard Morales of Uruguay (2002 World Cup, 16 seconds) and Ebbe Sand of Denmark (1998 World Cup, 26 seconds) scored faster in a similar situation.

The head coach of the Moroccan national team, Walid Regragui, said after the match: “We gave our all, this is the main thing. Against a team like France, any mistake is costly. You can’t qualify for the final by failing the first half. In the second we played much better, even if the second ball killed us. But he does not cross out what we have done before him. And he is right, Morocco still has a chance to enter the list of World Cup medalists. On December 17, the Moroccan national team will meet with Croatia in the match for third place.

Thus, the French team reached the final of the World Cup for the second time in a row. The Tricolors have achieved this for the 4th time in the last 7 tournaments. The 1998 World Cup and the 2018 World Cup were victorious, and at the 2006 World Cup the French took silver medals.

No less interesting events took place after the match, not even in Qatar. According to French media reports, after the match between Morocco and France, street clashes took place in various French cities such as Paris, Nice and Montpellier. Not only Moroccan migrants took to the streets, but also the French, satisfied with the victory of their country. For example, in Place Massena in Nice, groups of French and Moroccan fans threw firecrackers, fireworks, bottles, and garbage from street containers at each other. Tear gas had to be used to disperse aggressive police groups.

The match between France and Argentina for the world title will take place on December 18 at 18:00 (Moscow time) at the Lusail Stadium.

Daniel Prilepsky.