Morocco fall just short of World Cup final glory

Morocco’s dream of reaching the World Cup final finally came to an end on Wednesday with a 2-0 loss to France. But the magic of the team’s fantastic journey and their achievement in reaching the last four in Qatar will never be forgotten.

Whether for the tens of thousands who saw the game in person at Al-Bayt Stadium, the millions watching all around the Arab world or the billions tuning in on every continent, Morocco’s journey has surely been the story of the 2022 tournament.

They probably deserved more from this game than what they got and certainly deserved the outpouring of pride and appreciation from their fans at the final whistle

Their story is not necessarily over, as the success in Qatar could be just the start of a glorious new chapter for the Atlas Lions and lay the foundations for more to come.

But even if it does not spark further successes, what happened during the past three weeks, those amazing victories over Belgium, Canada, Spain and Portugal, will never be forgotten.

In the end, France, the defending champions, were just that little bit too clinical for Morocco and this sixth game for an injury-hit squad was just a little bit too much for them.

There’s still a play-off for third place against Croatia on Saturday to look forward to, which will be a fitting end to their competition as the two teams began their campaigns with a goalless draw in their opening clash. It will be one last chance for those magnificent fans, who really deserved a goal to cheer on Wednesday, to showcase their red shirts, voices and passion for a watching world.

Those fans ensured Morocco won the battle of the national anthems, as you might expect given that they outnumbered the French fans by at least 10 to one. It was a home game for Morocco but not even such great support could help to rally central defender Nayef Aguerd, who missed the win over Portugal with a thigh strain, and prevent him from having to withdraw from the crunch game during the warm-up, to be replaced by Achraf Dari.

Had the West Ham United defender been on the pitch, it is possible that France would not have taken the lead after just five minutes, when Theo Hernandez would not have half-volleyed the ball into the net past the despairing kick of Dari.

It was the first time in the tournament that Morocco’s defense had panicked and the AC Milan left-back popped up at the far post to punish the uncharacteristic confusion.

It was also the first time in the tournament that Morocco had fallen behind in a game. The French were always going to be a tough test but now Morocco really had a mountain to climb. The North Africans took a deep breath and got straight back into the action.

Soon after, Azzedine Ounahi forced a good save out of Hugo Lloris. After 17 minutes, however, Olivier Giroud ran past Romain Saiss and fired a fierce shot against the post. While there was relief, there was also dismay as the move showed that the skipper, thigh still strapped, had not fully recovered from a hamstring injury that saw him stretchered off during the win over Portugal. Morocco were left with both their usual center-backs and the signs were not good.

Yet while France continued to look dangerous on the counterattack, Morocco started to get on top and defender Jawad Al-Yamiq’s spectacular overhead kick drew a fine save from Lloris — not the first from the Spurs stopper — who pushed the ball onto the post. The game really was in the balance, with the Arab team coming back very strong from the early setback. If any evidence was needed, the players showed that they could never be counted out.

One of Morocco’s achievements is that they are now genuinely viewed as a formidable team and so there was little surprise when they started to get back into the game. The second half continued with the Reds on top of Les Bleus, who had to resort to some increasingly desperate defending, with Antoine Griezmann helping out at the back more and more.

For anyone watching with little knowledge of the two teams, it would have been impossible to tell who were the defending champions and who started the tournament as 200-to-1 outsiders.

Now Morocco were no longer outsiders but one of the big boys. But the goal that looked like it was surely going to come did not. As the 70th minute came and went, France started to look a little more comfortable.

Even when Morocco were on top, a second French goal was always a possibility and so it came, with a shot from close range from substitute Randal Kolo Muani. It came shortly after Abderrazak Hamdallah, also on the pitch for just moments, failed to pull the trigger after finding a little space in the area. The Al-Ittihad striker could have scored twice.

And that was that, as far as the semi-final was concerned but there is more to this story. Morocco had done the Arab world proud even before kick-off, and gave everything as they pushed the world champions hard, all the way. Their performance confirmed that talent, combined with hard work, organization and belief, can be a formidable combination.

There was disappointment at the final whistle but that also is a reflection of how far this team have come in Qatar.

There was also a lot of pride for a squad that had finally lost but was never beaten, and players who will head home with their heads held very high and their reputations higher still. Nobody will ever forget Morocco’s run to the last four.