France beats Morocco, will face Argentina in World Cup final

France came into this World Cup without Karim Benzema, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, as well as N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba, who formed an indestructible pair in midfield when Les Bleus broke a 20-year drought to win the World Cup in 2018. On Wednesday, it came into the semifinal without even Adrien Rabiot or Dayot Upamecano, two of its regular starters who had come down with the flu. 

It mattered not one bit. When the final whistle blew, France’s coach, Didier Deschamps, raised his arms in celebration as Morocco’s players fell to the ground in exhaustion — a magical run at an end. 

France defeated Morocco, 2-0, on Wednesday afternoon to set up a box office World Cup final against Argentina that will pit the defending champions against Lionel Messi, seeking his first title. 

“There is emotion, pride,” Deschamps said on French TV network TF1. “It was still a significant step. There will be one last. We’ve been together with the players for a month. It’s never easy, but it’s been a joy so far.” 

Theo Hernandez scored the goal to send France through just five minutes into the game, sending a half-volley past Yassine Bounou after the ball came to him off Kylian Mbappe’s shot. The move started after Antoine Griezmann was played in, a Moroccan defender falling to the ground and opening up space in the penalty area. Morocco converged on the ball to block Mbappe’s shot, but had no defense but hope when the ball fell to Hernandez. 

He got on top of a high bounce, driving it into the ground and handing France an early lead. 

Follow all the 2022 World Cup action with more from the New York Post

“It’s amazing,” Hernandez said on TF1. “Playing two finals in a row is incredible.” 

That was only the second goal Morocco had conceded all tournament, and the first scored by another team. (Morocco allowed an own goal in the group stage against Canada.) It put the Moroccans in a rare position of needing to mount a comeback, against a side that looked ready to romp. 

They so very nearly proved worthy of the challenge. 

For the next 73 minutes, the game hung in the balance, with Morocco throwing everything it had, and the French proving worthy to the challenge. 

A team that had spent all World Cup in defense mounted an effective attack, possessing the ball and forcing France to scramble again and again. Jawad El-Yamiq nearly turned in the tournament’s most stunning goal, with a bicycle kick that forced a diving save from Hugo Lloris to get the ball to carom off the post harmlessly. Earlier, Hernandez nearly committed a match-changing infraction, when he seemed to tackle Sofiane Boufal in the penalty area, but the referee didn’t see it that way. 

Finally, at 79 minutes, the Moroccan dream — and that of Africa and the Middle East with it — died out, as Mbappe found Randal Kolo Muani on the back post for what turned into an easy finish. 

“I’m still in my dream,” Muani said. “We can be proud of ourselves.” 

Morocco goes out with the best ever performance for an African side at a World Cup in hand, an unequivocal highlight of this World Cup. The crowd at the national anthems on Wednesday, which whistled during La Marseillaise before belting every word to Cherifian Anthem, exemplified what their run has meant not just to Africa but to the Middle East. Even at the end, Morocco fought, forcing Jules Kounde to clear the ball off the line in the fourth minute of stoppage time, but it was not enough. 

As for France, it’s hard to think of a World Cup final more packed with history than the one that will be played at 10 a.m. Sunday. Mbappe goes for his second World Cup title at the age of 23. Deschamps tries to become the first manager to win two straight World Cup titles since Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo in 1934 and 1938, and France the first nation to go back-to-back since Brazil in 1958 and 1962, with another young superstar as its talisman in Pelé. 

On Argentina’s side, Messi plays in his second World Cup final and what will almost certainly be his last ever match for La Albiceleste. It would be the first World Cup victory for a South American side since Brazil in 2002, and the first for Argentina since 1986, when Diego Maradona powered a nation to glory in Mexico City. 

“A final cannot be played,” Muani said. “It has to be won.”