Qatar 2022 World Cup: France halt brave Morocco, set for Sunday’s final against Argentina

They came, they fought hard, but alas, injuries, fatigue and a determined France stopped Morocco from making history as the first country outside Europe and South America to play in the final game of the World Cup.

Morocco, which accounted for the exit of both Portugal and Spain from the ongoing World Cup in Qatar, found France too tough a knot to untie in a match many of the neutrals prayed they win to continue their fairy tale run in the competition.

Signs of the tough task ahead of the Africans started manifesting even before kick off at the Al Bayt Stadium, when dependable defender, Nayef Aguerd, pulled out of the clash due to injury.

The West Ham star was named in the starting XI but commentators only realised he wasn’t playing when the match began. Injury got the better of him.

Soon after kickoff and a goal down due to defensive mix up in the early minutes, inspirational captain, Ramon Saiss, also left the game as he succumbed to the thigh injury that forced his substitution in the quarterfinals.

Morocco made history by becoming the first African nation to reach a World Cup semi-final, but got off to the worst possible start as Theo Hernandez opened the scoring after just five minutes.

Thereafter, the Atlas Lions took the fight to the defending champions, but a combination of poor marksmanship and good goalkeeping by Hugo Iloris kept them at bay.

Neutral fans thought the Moroccans had earned a penalty when Hernandez ‘fouled’ Sofiane Boufal in the box, but instead, referee Cesar Ramos booked Boufal for stopping the French defender.

The incident happened midway through the first half, when Hakim Ziyech found space inside Hernandez. The French defender then recovered, before a heavy touch inside the box saw him collide with