France defeats Morocco, will face Argentina in World Cup final
AL KHOR, Qatar — The glass slipper didn’t fit. The coach turned back into a pumpkin. The dress ball ended without so much as a date.
Just minutes before the clock struck midnight Wednesday in Qatar, Morocco’s Cinderella run to the World Cup semifinals ended — and it didn’t end happily ever after. It ended the way most everybody expected it would, in a victory that sends France to a second straight World Cup final.
The final score was 2-0, with the goals coming from defender Theo Hernández in the fifth minute and from second-half substitute Randal Kolo Muani, who scored on his first touch 44 seconds after coming off the bench in the 79th minute.
But if France won, Morocco didn’t exactly lose. How could it lose after becoming the first African and first Arab country to reach the final four of a World Cup? How could it lose when just one other country outside Europe and South America has gotten this far in the last 92 years?
It won because it didn’t quit, because it inspired, because it believed it belonged — then went out and proved that it did. Walid Regragui, Morocco’s coach, compared his team to Rocky, a boxer who lost the big fight but won everything else.
That, too, is Morocco.
Julián Álvarez scored twice and Lionel Messi once as Argentina defeated Croatia 3-0 to advance to the World Cup final against the France-Morocco winner.
“We gave everything on the pitch. And that’s already quite an achievement,” Regragui said. “At a World Cup this was perhaps one step too far. Physically we came up short tonight. We have too many players that were 60, 70% — and have been for some time.
“They got as far as they could. They really wanted to make history. But we you don’t win the World Cup through miracles.”
In its own way though, Morocco’s performance was miraculous. It eliminated Belgium, the No. 2 team in the world, in group play and eliminated Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal in the quarterfinals. In between, it beat Spain, the 2010 world champions, on penalty kicks.
England, Germany and Brazil, who have combined for 10 World Cup titles, all went home before Morocco did.
“I said to the players that I was proud of them,” Regragui said. “We showed great desire. We played hard and we showed hard-working football.
“People already respected us. But maybe they respect us more now.”
If there was a team that respected Morocco before Qatar it was France. Seven of Morocco’s players were either born in France or play there. Most of the coaches were born there, too — including Regragui, who studied in the French system.
“Morocco impressed me tonight,” midfielder Antoine Griezmann said. “They set up very well tactically, offensively. They caused problems for us.”
But in the end that wasn’t enough. Morocco didn’t allow an opponent to score in its first five games here, the only goal it conceded coming on an own goal. And it never trailed. Hernández ended both those streaks for France with the earliest goal in a World Cup semifinal since 1958.
Morocco then got more bad news in the 21st minute when captain and center back Romain Saiss, who was stretchered off the field in the second half of Morocco’s quarterfinal win over Portugal, had to come out again.
France, too, has battled injuries, beginning before it even left France. The defending champions had to leave four key players behind, then lost Karim Benzema, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, to a torn muscle in his left thigh and defender Lucas Hernández to a ruptured ACL in his right knee in the first week in Qatar.
But others have stepped up. Aging striker Olivier Giroud, who wasn’t expected to play much here, has taken Benzema’s place and scored four goals. Aurelien Tchouameni filled the midfield void created by the loss or N’golo Kante and Paul Pogba and played more than 500 minutes in the World Cup. And Theo Hernández, who scored the first goal Wednesday, hasn’t missed a minute since taking over for his brother, who went down in the first half of the first game.
Now that next-man-up mentality has France on the edge of history. A win over Lionel Messi and Argentina in Sunday’s final would make it the first men’s team to win consecutive World Cups in 60 years. It will also make coach Didier Deschamps the only person to win two titles as a coach and one as a player.
“I’m not the most important thing here, the team is more important that I am,” said Deschamps, who welcomed French president Emmanuel Macron in the team’s locker room after the game. “Of course, I’m proud, And we now we all have this chance now of defending our title in the final. That’s a great achievement already.”
The strife that has ensnared Gio Reyna and the U.S. men’s soccer team isn’t solely Gregg Berhalter’s fault, but the coach is expendable — and Reyna isn’t.
Speaking of great achievements, Morocco’s players weren’t ready to let theirs go even in defeat. At the final whistle, many of them froze where they were. Others doubled over in exhaustion and grief as Regragui made his way around the field, hugging some, congratulating others.
But none of them was eager to leave the field.
In the stands, which Moroccan supporters had turned into a sea of red, people cried and applauded – sometimes at the same time. The players saluted them by gathering just outside the 18-yard box and dropping to their knees in sujud, bowing low in respect and thanks.
And then they stayed a bit longer, not sure what to do. The clock had struck midnight, but Cinderella wasn’t ready to take the other glass slipper off just yet.
