Preview: France have the class to break down Moroccans

Morocco are roaming deep in bonus territory but as their redoubtable manager Walid Regragui says, the "crazy" dream is still alive.

Regardless of what transpires at the Al Bayt Stadium tonight, the Atlas Lions have already created history in Qatar, eclipsing the achievements of Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010) in becoming the first African side to reach the last-four.

Parallels to Ireland 1988-90 have been drawn, both in terms of the emotional outpouring their run has sparked and their heavy reliance on the diaspora. Their style of play has also attracted the sniffy disdain of the game's bigger powers, even as they've struggled to cope with it.

Four of their starting XI against Portugal were born in Morocco, though it's worth noting that Bono, the goalkeeper who launched a thousand U2 puns, returned to Casablanca from Quebec with his family (obviously) at three years of age.

The team is stacked with first-generation Moroccan immigrants from Spain, the Netherlands, France and Belgium, all of whom harbour a strong loyalty to the land of their parents.

Chelsea's Hakim Ziyech, their most high-profile player at club level, is a classic case, having previously represented the Netherlands at both U20 and U21 level.

In 2015, he switched his allegiance to Morocco, to the consternation of Marco Van Basten, then assistant manager with the Dutch and Ziyech's one-time club coach at Heerenveen.

"His market value as an international player for the Netherlands could have been so much higher," observed Van Basten wearily.

Ziyech's own comments on the matter at the time indicated he wasn't much pre-occupied with his market value.

"I ask myself: 'Where does the heart go? Although I was born in the Netherlands, I feel Moroccan.

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