Defending champions France stormed into the final as Theo Hernandez and super sub-Randal Kolo Muani’s goals helped them beat the Morocco 2-0 in the second semi-final at the Al Bayt Stadium. With this win, France will become the first defending champions to reach successive finals since Brazil in 2002 and can now look forward to Sunday’s showdown when they will bid to follow Brazil in 1962 and Italy in 1938 as the third team to retain the title.
France will meet Lionel Messi’s Argentina in final at the Lusail Stadium on Sunday. Argentina stormed into the final after beating Croatia 3-0 in the first semi-final Tuesday night. Now Croatia will face Morocco in the third-place match on Saturday at the Khalifa International Stadium, in Qatar at 8:30 pm Indian Time.
Defender Theo Hernández scored France’s quickest goal of the Qatar World Cup in the 5th minute of the game. when he netted the ball from inside the box that gave them the early 1-0 lead. It was only the second goal Morocco has allowed in this World Cup, and the first was an own goal. Extending their lead in the second half, substitute Randal Kolo Muani scored the second goal for France as the defending champions ended Morocco’s dream run at the grandest stage. Atlas lions, on the other hand, suffered two injury blows with center-back Nayef Aguerd pulling out during the warm-up and captain Romain Saiss forced off in the 21st minute.
They also came close to an equalizer on the stroke of halftime when Jawad El Yamiq’s bicycle kick was palmed away by the French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. Now France became the first defending champions to qualify for consecutive World Cup finals since Brazil did it in 1998. Kylian Mbappe-starred France will meet Lionel Messi-led Argentina in the final of the FIFA World Cup 2022 on Sunday.
It is also reported that defending champions France and Argentina will face each other for the title in Qatar on Sunday. France defeated Morocco by 2 goals to Nil yesterday, ending Morocco’s dream of becoming the first African team to play in the finals. The French team has reached the final for the second consecutive time and overall for the fourth time. Prior to this, France played the finals three times, winning the title twice in 1998 and 2018. Whereas in 2006, it was the runners-up.
On the other hand, if Argentina wins the World Cup, Messi’s name will be added to the list of greatest players like Pele and Diego Maradona. Messi has become the highest scorer in World Cup history with 11 goals. Messi and France’s Mbappe have scored five goals each in this World Cup. France have plenty of attacking talent, and have put it on full display in this tournament, but Argentina have been the best defensive side in the entire World Cup, and that will likely keep a lid on things throughout the match. Well, it will be interesting to see who bags the Golden Boot in the title match.