France’s unyielding intensity could prove impossible to withstand. Morocco certainly came with a plan, hoping to trouble the team that had ended their World Cup dreams in the last four in Qatar, but the French pressing was so ferocious that the North Africans quickly realized they had to dig in and suffer. With the firepower France possesses, merely holding on is not a sustainable strategy.
Once more, Kylian Mbappé took centre stage, fluffing a spot-kick, then producing a breathtaking first goal before setting up Ousmane Dembélé for the second. He departed with 13 minutes left to a standing ovation fully earned: the contest had been meandering, and there was a faint feeling that Morocco might just mount an improbable defensive stand, when he conjured a goal out of thin air.
What can you do to halt France? You can defend with discipline and focus, throw bodies in the way, snap into challenges, hustle relentlessly, and your goalkeeper can pull off a handful of superb stops – and still, one of their attackers will pull a goal like that out of nowhere.
What exactly is a backline meant to do? Maybe Les Bleus have peaked prematurely. Perhaps they cannot maintain this level. But if they do, stopping them from claiming a third World Cup title in 28 years will require something truly special.
Through large stretches of the first half, a France breakthrough looked inevitable, and when Mbappé was played in by Michael Olise after Desiré Doué stripped Achraf Hakimi of possession, only to be brought down in the area by Noussair Mazraoui, the perfect chance presented itself.
Yet the pause for the VAR review, and then for Yassine Bounou to return to his goal line, dragged on bafflingly long – three minutes and ten seconds – for what appeared a clear-cut call. Perhaps the wait unsettled Mbappé: his attempt was struck weakly to Bounou’s left, allowing a comfortable save. For Bounou, long regarded as a shootout expert, it marked the first time he had repelled a penalty for his nation during open play.
Bounou tipped over a Dayot Upamecano header, denied a low Doué strike to his right, and Lucas Digne rattled the crossbar with a fierce shot, yet the opening goal eluded France. By the time Morocco registered their first attempt – a free-kick sliced wide deep into first-half stoppage time – France had already created 13 opportunities.
The flowing rhythm that propelled France through the group phase and the round of 32 meeting with Sweden may have faded slightly. Yet the ambition remains; Didier Deschamps has certainly not reverted to the cautious approach that has largely defined his 14-year tenure.
Deliveries from wide areas flew too long and openings were rushed. In that regard, there are echoes of the 1990 West Germany side: a team of clear, undeniable class, arguably the finest in the tournament, which produced a couple of signature performances early on before grinding its way through the knockout rounds.
But just like that West German team, this French side is more than willing to fight. Besides his penalty miss, Mbappé had also dragged a chance horribly off target early in the second period.
But he is far too talented to let setbacks weigh him down. On the hour mark, a loose clearance was headed down to Digne, who fed the ball into the area for Mbappé. It was barely a half-chance. The ball was too tight to his body to wrap his foot around it properly, and Issa Diop stood directly in his path. The only way to score was to use Diop as a screen, applying a hint of draw to whip the ball past the defender and inside the far post. He did exactly that, unleashing a shot with a bizarre dipping flight at 98kph (according to the stadium scoreboard) – an absolutely magnificent, unstoppable finish.
With Ismael Saibari sidelined, Chemsdine Talbi was deployed on the Morocco left, while Bilal El Khannouss moved into a central role. The plan, presumably, was for the Sunderland winger Talbi to attack Jules Koundé, replicating what Sofiane Boufal had done in that semi-final four years earlier. He rarely got the opportunity, however, as his primary task became shadowing Koundé’s forward bursts from right-back.
It quickly became clear that France’s pressing was so effective that Morocco’s sole path to the last four was to hang on and pray for penalties; once that initial resistance cracked, a second goal swiftly followed. Once more, a defender acted as a screen, with Mazraoui blocking Bounou’s line of sight as Dembélé curled his effort towards the bottom corner. The keeper managed a touch but could not prevent it from finding the net.
For France, this was an exceptionally commanding display. By the close, they were able to rest key individuals, preserving freshness for the showdown with either Spain or Belgium in Dallas. They will be extraordinarily difficult to stop.
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