World Cup Podcast: Economical France see off Morocco to set up dream final

Paul Corry joins Mikey Stafford and Peter Branigan to look back on France's 2-0 semi-final win over Morocco, as the holders ended the North African Cinderella story.

Morocco were undone by injuries to key defenders and some very rash play in the opening minutes as Theo Hernandez became the first opposition player to score against the Atlas Lions.

However the Moroccans grew into the game and enjoyed the lion's share of possession, playing some very attractive football, drawing an interesting 1990s movie analogy from Mikey.

However, lamented Paul, like Croatia, they lacked the killer touch in the final third. Something displayed by France in the closing stages as substitute Marcus Thuram combined with Kylian Mbappe in the lead-up to Randal Kolo Muani putting the game to bed with his first touch.

So now we have Messi v Mbappe, Qatar-owned PSG superstar v Qatar-owned PSG superstar... neither of whom will contribute a whole pile in defence down the same side of the pitch. It should make for an interesting game with goals, Paul predicts.

There is also some chat about the 48-team 2026 World Cup and what it means for Ireland;'s prospects and the tournament's quality. And finally some important discussion on the gold match ball and what constitutes a good football.

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