France have some incredible attacking talents to thank for their progression to this stage, with Kylian Mbappe and record-breaking scorer Olivier Giroud making 11 goal contributions between them.
France
World champions France ensured that it’s certainly not coming home with a hard-fought 2-1 win over England in their quarter-final, and now just two games stand in their way of becoming the first side since Brazil in 1962 to defend their World Cup crown successfully. Never doing things the easy way, France are the only side left in the tournament yet to record a clean sheet, falling behind or conceding an equaliser in four of their five games! Les Bleus have some incredible attacking talents to thank for their progression to this stage, with Kylian Mbappe and record-breaking scorer Olivier Giroud making 11 goal contributions between them. French boss Deschamps admitted that his side “got lucky” against England, and he may need yet another slice of luck after France lost three of their last six World Cup games against African nations, including a 1-0 defeat to Tunisia in this edition!
Morocco
No matter what happens now, Morocco have made history at this tournament by becoming the first African nation to make it to the semi-finals of a World Cup. Morocco have already knocked out two giants of European football in the knockout phase with a penalty win over Spain preceding a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Portugal in the quarter-final, results which prompted boss Walid Regragui to brand Morocco the “Rocky of this World Cup”. That film reference seems like a fair assessment considering Morocco have been an outsider in all but one of their five World Cup games, the 2-1 win over Canada. Solid defensive play and excellent game management have been hallmarks of Morocco’s unlikely success story at this tournament, a statement backed up by the fact that no opposition player has scored past them in nine straight internationals.
Mbappe has 33 international goals and will surely break Giroud’s goalscoring record (currently at 53) one day for France. He now leads the way for the Golden Boot in this World Cup with five goals, hitting crucial braces in two of his last four appearances. Talented Moroccan full-back Achraf Hakimi produced one of the tournament highlights with a panenka penalty to eliminate Spain. Still, now his focus will firmly be on the defence when he squares up directly against PSG teammate Mbappe in what’s going to be a crucial battle. France have recorded just one clean sheet across their last 11 internationals. Frenchman Just Louis Fontaine still holds the record for most goals scored in a single tournament with an incredible 13-goal haul as France finished in third back in 1958.