France will face off with Argentina in the final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar after edging out Morocco 2-0 in the semis at the Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday evening courtesy of goals by Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani.This will be their second appearance in a row at the ultimate stage of the biggest football fiesta in the World having gone all the way to claim the trophy in Russia in the 2018 edition.Although Morocco saw their sojourn put to an end, they will bow out with their heads high having made history as the first African country to go the length of the semifinals at the World Cup.Les Bleus had the perfect start as Theo Hernandez scored in an acrobatic manner after just five minutes to give his side the lead. Antoine Griezmann got off his marker and played a cutback for Kylian Mbappe who found the left back.Didier Deschamps made two changes to the team that beat England in the quarters, with Youssouf Fofana and Ibrahima Konate coming in to replace Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano.On the other end, Walid Regragui brought back Noussair Mazraoui for Yahya Attiat-Allah and Nayef Aguerd for Selim Amallah. However, they were dealt an injury blow during warm up and Aguerd had to be struck off with France-based Achraf Dari being introduced.⏸ Advantage France at the break!#FIFAWorldCup | #FRA #MAR— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 14, 2022 The injury demons continued to haunt Morocco 21 minutes in the game, this time captain Romain Saiss unable to continue for the injury he picked in the quarters against Portugal. Amallah was introduced to fill in the shoes of the ‘Moroccan Maldini’ with the team already trailing by a goal.Azzedine Ounahi had the first real chance for Morocco but his curling shot from outside the area was saved by Hugo Lloris, and that injected life into the Atlas Lions.Al Yamik almost grabbed the equalizer right at the end of the first half with a spectacular overhead kick but his effort came off the base of the post, perhaps extremely spectacular for a defender his size, but his teammates could not pounce on the rebound.##NAJAVA_MECA_6886600##On resumption for the second half, Regragui introduced Attiat-Allah for Mazraoui as they sought to inject more pace into the team while in search of an equalizer.The African side kept on knocking, but they could not get the final ball right. Amrabat had the chance to make it 1-1 nine minutes into the second half but Ibrahima Kone stepped in to deny him.Randal Kolo Muani had the perfect cameo, scoring 44 seconds after his introduction for Ousmane Dembele. Kylian Mbappe danced past the Moroccan defenders in the box to set up the Eintracht Frankfurt forward who made no mistake with literally his first touch of the ball as he tapped it in for the second goal of the match.Muani’s goal was the second-fastest goal from a substitute in World Cup history, the fastest one being that of Denmark’s Ebbe Sand during the 1998 edition against Nigeria in which he scored 21 seconds after his introduction in the Round of 16.It was a long way back for Morocco after the second goal but they kept on pushing, including a literal push and shove between El Yamik and Raphael Varane after Morocco were awarded a freekick.QATAR 2022 WORLD CUP1/2 FINALSTuesdayArgentina – Croatia 3-0 (2-0)/Messi 34 pen, Alvarez 39, 69/WednesdayFrance – Morocco 2-0 (1-0)/Hernandez 6, Kolo Muani 79/
