France set up a heavyweight World Cup final against Argentina after an early goal by Theo Hernandez and a late one from Randal Kolo Muani ended battling Morocco’s dream run via an action-packed 2-0 semi-final victory.
Theo Hernandez stretched high after five minutes to hook in the first goal Morocco have conceded to an opposition player in the tournament. Morocco, disrupted by early injuries to two key defenders, recovered to cause no end of problems, with Hugo Lloris brilliantly saving Jawad El Yamiq’s overhead kick at the end of the first half and the outsiders pouring forward for much of the second.
However, they could not quite fashion a clear enough chance for the equaliser and were unable to extend the astonishing run that included victories over Belgium, Spain and Portugal and made them the first African team to make the semi-finals.
France settled it in the 79th minute when a brilliant dribble by Kylian Mbappe set up Kolo Muani to tuck in the decisive goal with his first touch less than a minute after coming on.
