France ended Morocco’s historic FIFA World Cup campaign with a 2-0 quarter-final victory, eventually breaking through the Atlas Lions’ stubborn defence after a tense and tightly contested encounter.
The defending champions struggled to find a way past Morocco in the opening stages, as the African side maintained their defensive discipline and frustrated France’s attacking players for long periods.
Morocco, who had produced a series of impressive performances throughout the tournament, held France scoreless in the first half and continued to pose a threat with their organised approach.
France finally found the breakthrough in the 60th minute when Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring, rewarding their sustained pressure after a difficult battle against Morocco’s compact defensive setup.
Ousmane Dembélé then doubled France’s advantage six minutes later, giving Didier Deschamps’ side control of the tie and leaving Morocco with a difficult task of forcing a comeback.
The Atlas Lions pushed forward in search of a response but could not find a way through France’s defence, bringing their memorable World Cup journey to an end.
France’s victory sends them into the semi-finals, while Morocco depart the tournament after another landmark run that strengthened their place in World Cup history.
Oluwagbemisola Babalola
Follow us on: