from MOHAMED EL KADIRI in Casablanca, Morocco
CASABLANCA, (CAJ News) – AFRICA’S participation at the World Cup is over after France knocked out Morocco 2-0 in a quarter-final encounter at the Boston Stadium on Thursday night.
Captain Kylian Mbappé was villain-turned-hero as he guided his side to the semi-finals at the expense of the Atlas Lions who, after becoming the first African side to secure back-to-back quarter-final qualification, had aimed to extend that record to the last four.
Morocco came into the match eager for revenge following their elimination at the same stage by France four years ago in Qatar by a similar scoreline, but they were a pale shadow of both that side and the current team that had impressed en route to the last eight.
The absence of forward Ismael Saibari was keenly felt as Mohamed Ouahbi’s side rarely threatened.
With the North Africans’ dream over, France’s continues as they seek a third successive appearance in the final and hope to add to the two titles they secured in 1998 and 2018.
In Boston, the only action worth writing home about was a penalty won by Mbappé in the 25th minute after a challenge by Noussair Mazraoui inside the box.
He dusted himself off to take the spot-kick, but his effort was woeful and was easily dealt with by Yassine Bounou.
The French turned things around in the second half, with Mbappé firing home from the left side of the box into the top right-hand corner on the hour mark for his eighth goal of the tournament.
He was again involved six minutes later, providing an assist for Ousmane Dembélé to score his fifth goal of the tournament.
While Africa set a historic record with nine nations advancing to the knockout stages, seven teams were eliminated in the Round of 32.
Egypt lost to eventual champions Argentina in the quarter-finals.
Tunisia exited in the group stages.
– CAJ News