France meets Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final

There were no surprises at Al Bayt, when Morocco's magical journey ended before the power of the defending champion. Although supported by 50,000 fans in the stands, the goal in the fifth minute put Walid Regragui's teachers and students in a difficult position. They were forced to give up the stalking game to find an equalizer, accepting the risk of being counter-attacked.

This is the first time Morocco has been hit by an opponent at a World Cup and it is also the first time they have been led. There is a certain confusion in the play of the North African team. Things got worse for them when captain Romain Saiss was forced to leave the field due to a recurrence of an injury. In addition to Nayef Aguerd suffering from pain during the warm-up, Morocco had to play without the best pair of central defenders.

However, the African team deserves to be commended for its brave fighting spirit for 90 minutes. Morocco was somewhat unlucky in the first goal. El Yamiq slipped in an attempt to block Raphael Varane's pass to Antoine Griezmann. Achraf Hakimi and Achraf Dari block two consecutive shots from Kylian Mbappe. But the ball bounced to Theo Hernandez's position and the defender threw a volley, making Bono helpless even though he ran out to close the corner.

This is one of two French shots on target in this match. Both lead to goals. Les Bleus' seven missed shots included Olivier Giroud's volley 10 minutes later, when Saiss was out of breath in the lead-up to the injured France striker. Morocco also has two shots on target. One of them is the heart-breaking situation of Azzedine Ounahi, causing Hugo Lloris to show his talent.

Both teams had the opportunity to change the scoreboard at the end of the first half. After Mbappe's harassment phase, Giroud received the ball 10 meters from the goal. But in the context of Bono having dropped out of position, the 36-year-old striker's one-touch shot went out. To the last minute, from a corner, Jawad El Yamiq hit the ball skillfully. But Lloris's fingertips pushed the ball into the post, keeping the advantage of staying with France when the two teams entered the break.

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