The match, which will be managed by Mexican referee Cesar Ramos, will be played at Al Bayt Stadium.
The two countries will meet for the first time in the history of the tournament. The team that passes this round will play in the final on Sunday with the winner of the Argentina-Croatia match.
France, in Group D, beat Australia 4-1 in the first match and Denmark 2-1 in the second match, guaranteeing the round of 16, while losing to Tunisia 1-0 in the last match.
“Roosters”, who beat Poland 3-1 in the last 16 round, won the semi-final ticket by beating England 2-1 in the quarter-finals.
The surprise team of the tournament, Morocco, marked the 2022 World Cup, which started with a goalless draw with Croatia. “Atlas Lions”, who emerged as the leader of the group by beating Belgium 2-0 and Canada 2-1, defeated Spain 3-0 on penalties in the last 16 round.
Sending Portugal home with a score of 1-0 in the quarter-finals, Morocco achieved great success by becoming the first African country to reach the semi-finals in the history of the tournament.
Morocco, which did not allow its opponents to pass except for an own goal against Canada, has been undefeated for 13 matches in the qualifiers of the tournament and the World Cup.
Matches Between
- 16/11/2007 France 2-2 Morocco
- 07/06/2000 Morocco 1-5 France
- 20/01/1999 France 1-0 Morocco
- 29/05/1998 Morocco 2-2 France
Results of last 5 matches played by France
- France 4-1 Australia
- France 2-1 Denmark
- Tunisia 1-0 France
- France 3-1 Poland
- England 1-2 France
Results of the last 5 matches played by Morocco
- Morocco 0-0 Croatia
- Belgium 0-2 Morocco
- Canada 1-2 Morocco
- Morocco 0-0 Spain
- Morocco 1-0 Portugal
Other Match Information
- France, who have not lost their five matches against Morocco (W3 W2), drew 2-2 at the last meeting in November 2007.
- France, which has won and lost one win and one loss in the six matches it has played in the World Cup with African representatives, lost 1-0 to Tunisia in its last match. There is no team in the history of the World Cup that has lost to two African countries in a tournament.
- Morocco is aiming to become the first African country to make its appearance in the World Cup final.
- France, which is set to make its seventh appearance in the semi-finals of the World Cup, has been eliminated in the first three matches at this stage (1958, 1982 & 1986), while in the last three matches it has received its ticket to the final (1998, 2006 & 2018).
- In the 2022 World Cup, Morocco, which did not concede a goal from rival players and closed its goals in four matches, scored its only goal against Canada. Both teams have scored 4 goals in a tournament to date, taking the championship rope (Spain; 2010 & Italy; 2006).
Mexican referee Cesar Ramos will officiate the match.
César Arturo Ramos Palazuelos (born 5 December 1983) is a Mexican professional football referee. He has been a full international for FIFA since 2014. He refereed matches in CONCACAF Champions League, in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, and in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Ramos made his debut on 28 October 2006, in a Primera División A match between Zacatepec and Santos Laguna 1a. ‘A’. Ramos made his First Division debut as a fourth official on 15 January 2011, in a match between San Luis and Puebla in San Luis Potosí. Later that year, Ramos made his First Division debut as a central referee in a match between Monterrey and Tijuana in Monterrey.
The first player Ramos booked in the First Division was Fernando Arce while the first player he sent off was Mariano Trujillo after he booked him twice in 15 minutes.
Ramos refereed the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup Final between Real Madrid and Gremio.
Ramos was the only Mexican center referee assigned to referee at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
In 2019, Ramos participated in a referee exchange program between the AFC and CONCACAF, where Ramos would referee in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup and Abdulrahman Al-Jassim of Qatar would referee at the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Al Bayt Stadium
Al Bayt Stadium is designed in the shape of “bayt al sha’ar”, a traditional Bedouin tent symbolizing desert hospitality, where foreigners from far away are welcomed, rested and meet local residents.
The design of Al Bayt Stadium offers a contemporary interpretation of the traditional and offers an unforgettable experience for sports fans. Al Bayt Stadium after the tournament; A 5-star hotel will be remodeled to serve the people of the area with a shopping mall, gym and a multi-purpose lounge. A branch of Aspetar, Qatar’s leading sports medicine facility, will open near the stadium. In addition, special running, cycling and horse riding trails and physical activities will be further encouraged.
Built in collaboration with the Aspire Foundation, Al Bayt Stadium is rated Class A* by the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS). The building is built with environmentally friendly materials and uses the latest technology to save energy and water. After the tournament, modular seats on the upper floors will be donated to developing countries in need of sports infrastructure, in line with the tournament’s broader sustainability goals.
The stadium not only promotes Qatar’s heritage, but also reveals the relationship of the Qatari people with the environment.
France National Football Team
The France national football team (French: Équipe de France de football) represents France in men’s international football and is controlled by the French Football Federation (Fédération française de football), also known as FFF. The team’s colours are blue, white, and red, and the coq gaulois its symbol. France is colloquially known as Les Bleus (The Blues). They are the reigning world champions, having won the most recent World Cup final in 2018.
France plays their home matches at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, and their manager is Didier Deschamps. They have won two FIFA World Cups, two UEFA European Championships, two FIFA Confederations Cups, one CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions and one UEFA Nations League title. France experienced much of its success in three different eras: in the 1980s, late 1990s/early 2000s and late 2010s, respectively, which resulted in numerous major honours. France was one of the four European teams that participated in the inaugural World Cup in 1930. Twenty-eight years later, the team, led by Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine, finished in third place at the 1958 FIFA World Cup.
In 1984, under the leadership of the three-time Ballon d’Or winner Michel Platini, France won UEFA Euro 1984 (its first official title), a CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions (1985) and reached another two World Cup semi-finals (1982 and 1986). However, France only began to reach its prime from the 1990s onward, with the establishment of INF Clairefontaine.
During the captaincy of Didier Deschamps, and with Zinedine Zidane on the pitch, Les Bleus won the FIFA World Cup in 1998 and triumphed at UEFA Euro 2000. They also won the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2001 and 2003. Three years later, France made it to the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, losing 5–3 on penalties to Italy. A decade later, the team reached the final of the UEFA European Championship, where they lost 1–0 to Portugal in extra time. Two years later, France won the 2018 FIFA World Cup, its second title in that competition, defeating Croatia 4–2 in the final match on 15 July 2018. Finally, the France team became the first European national team to have won all possible senior FIFA and confederation competitions after winning the UEFA Nations League in October 2021. France is known for having rivalries with Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, Italy, England, Croatia and Germany.
Morocco National Football Team
The Morocco national football team, nicknamed “the Atlas Lions”, represents Morocco in men’s international football competitions. It is controlled by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, also known as FRMF. The team’s colours are red and green. The team is a member of both FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Internationally, Morocco won the 1976 African Cup of Nations, two African Nations Championships and the FIFA Arab Cup once. They have participated in the FIFA World Cup six times. They made history in 1986, when they were the first African national team to finish top of a group at the World Cup. However, they narrowly lost to eventual runners-up West Germany 1–0. In the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Morocco became the first African and Arab nation to ever reach the semi-finals and the third ever semi-finalist not from UEFA or CONMEBOL (after the United States in 1930 and South Korea in 2002).
The Atlas Lions were ranked 10th in the FIFA World Rankings in April 1998. They were ranked by FIFA as the top African national team for three consecutive years, from 1997 to 1999. As of October 2022, Morocco is ranked as the 22nd best national team in the world.
Moroccan National Team Coach Walid Regragui:
“We have players with minor injuries in the team, but they are getting better every day. We have a very high-level medical team. We get good news every day. Right now, I cannot say ‘he will definitely not play’ for any of my players. Those who are 100 percent will start the match.
Hakimi knows Mbappe better than I do. We will not have an anti-Mbappe plan. The team is not just about him. The level of play Griezmann plays between regions is unbelievable. Hakimi is a great champion so I’m not worried”
