France survive scare before beating battling Morocco to reach World Cup final

Holders France survived a scare before eventually seeing off a marvellous Morocco side to seal their place in a mouthwatering World Cup final against Argentina.

Lionel Messi and company may be waiting at Lusail Stadium on Sunday night but Les Bleus – who could become the first nation since the revered Brazil side of 1962 to retain their status as champions of the world – were pushed all the way before sealing a hard-fought 2-0 win.

Theo Hernandez struck early on but Morocco, the first African semi-finalists in history, more than matched their illustrious opponents before substitute Randal Kolo Muani’s first France goal settled matters in the closing stages.

There will be subplots aplenty on Sunday, Messi up against club-mate Kylian Mbappe at the forefront, but this was a night where Morocco proved their shock progression into the last four was no fluke, going toe-to-toe with the reigning champions as well as having a strong penalty claimed turned down.

For the Morocco players and their energetic coach Walid Regragui, this turned out to be one dream too far having already beaten Belgium, Spain and Portugal – ending the hopes of Eden Hazard, Sergio Busquets and Cristiano Ronaldo en route to an historic semi-final.

Regragui was keen to reward the players who had claimed those scalps as Nayef Aguerd and captain Romain Saiss were included in the starting line-up despite being major fitness doubts.

But that plan backfired even before kick-off – West Ham defender Aguerd, who had been struggling with a thigh injury, replaced by Achraf Dari after the warm-up.

Morocco’s fans filled the Al Khor night with noise and they were still at fever pitch when, with less than five minutes played, Hernandez benefitted as a lucky rebound off