The captain of France was perplexed, demanding something be done. “I looked around and saw only Moroccan flags, and not French ones,” observed William Gallas. “I’d like to know why.”
Gallas was talking after the last encounter between Morocco and France, a 2-2 draw at the Stade de France, just outside Paris, 15 years ago.
His complaint was that a home game, an important warm-up for European Championship qualifying, had been made to sound and feel like an away fixture because of the unbalanced support among the almost 80,000 there. There was whistling of the Marseillaise, the French national anthem.
The vast majority there that night were not fans who had travelled from North Africa but residents of France, reminding that there are many with Moroccan heritage and that there will always be an edge to sporting meetings between a country that for much of the 20th century was a French protectorate.
Never have the football stakes been as high as for Wednesday’s Morocco-France clash in Al Khor, the prize a place in the World Cup final. Given the enthusiasm gathering around Morocco’s advance, no French player can imagine it feeling like anything but an away fixture, the atmosphere partisan.
“We’ve become the team people feel positive towards at this World Cup,” said Walid Regragui, the coach of the Atlas Lions, “as we’re showing the world what’s possible with less talent, less quality, less money, and what you can achieve with desire, hard work and belief.”
The limited talent and quality in the squad Regragui has so skilfully organised may seem less and less apparent the longer Morocco have advanced in Qatar, beating Belgium and knocking out Spain and Portugal.
But there are telling snapshots of the differences in resources between them and France, reigning world champions, when you look man-for-man through the line-ups of the semi-finalists.
Morocco 1 Portugal 0 - player ratings
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MOROCCO RATINGS: Yassine Bounou - 9, Made a whole host of impressive saves, stopping Joao Felix’s header, catching Raphael Guerreiro’s cross under pressure from Bruno Fernandes, making an outstanding save to deny Felix, then holding Cristiano Ronaldo’s strike at the second attempt. Reuters -
Achraf Hakimi - 8, Defended brilliantly in one-on-one situations against Felix. Was also involved in some lovely link-up play but wasn’t afraid to get rid when required. Made a superb burst up the pitch and had the intelligence to win a free-kick at the end of it. AFP -
Jawad El Yamiq - 9, Put in a herculean display, doing well to block Guerreiro’s shot and getting just enough on his deflection off Felix’s shot for it to go off target. Made a heroic header in extra time. AFP -
Romain Saiss - 8, Was a true leader for his team and got up impressively to clear Ruben Dias’ long pass forward. Valiantly played on as long as he could before succumbing to his injury. AP -
Yahya Attiat-Allah - 9, Having already got forward well a few times, delivered the inviting cross for Youssef En Nesyri’s opener – although he did miss the target from a good opportunity. Defended brilliantly throughout, especially against Diogo Dalot. AFP -
Azzedine Ounahi - 8, Showed a cool head in every situation and was brilliant on the ball, notably moving it out to Attiat-Allah in the build-up to the opener. Hit a shot horribly high and wide. Getty -
Sofyan Amrabat - 9, Did a brilliant job of winning the ball and moving it, as epitomised when he regained possession in the opposition’s half and passed to Hakim Ziyech, who won a corner. Stepped up at vital times as Portugal pursued an equaliser. AFP -
Selim Amallah - 6, Showed intent throughout but brought a disappointing end to a couple of brilliant moves, with a poor touch ending one before he conjured a horrible shot off target from another. AFP -
Hakim Ziyech - 7, Cut inside Otavio well but dragged his ambitious shot wide. Then got involved more and provided some lovely touches in tight areas while also helping out defensively. Brilliant free-kick delivery made things awkward for Diogo Costa. Reuters -
Youssef En Nesyri - 8, Sent an early header over the crossbar under little pressure, headed off target from Ziyech’s free-kick, but came up big at the third attempt when he beat Diogo Costa to reach Attiat-Allah’s cross. Also put in a lot of great work to help defensively. Getty -
Sofiane Boufal - 7, Showed a willingness to work hard for his team as well as displaying quality, as was epitomised by the trick near his own corner flag to maintain possession and win a free-kick, then again when he pickpocketed Cristiano Ronaldo on the edge of the box. AFP -
SUBS: Achraf Dari (Saiss, 58’) - 7, Was forced to sprint back and chase Felix almost immediately after coming on but did it brilliantly. Kept Ramos away from Bruno Fernandes’ cross well. Booked for a heavy challenge on Rafael Leao. AP -
Walid Cheddira (Amallah, 65’) - 3, Made a good defensive header but couldn’t quite get through at the end of a brilliant counter. Should have left the ball when Amrabat played it through and was then sent off after receiving two yellow cards in as many minutes. AP -
Badr Benoun (En Nesyri, 65’) - 8, Made a strong header to clear Leao’s cross and guarded Bounou as he gathered Ronaldo’s shot after making the initial save. Headed away Fernandes’ ball superbly. Reuters -
Zakaria Aboukhlal (Ziyech, 81’) – N/R, Constantly hassled the Portuguese defence but couldn’t dink the ball past Costa after racing through. EPA -
Yahya Jabrane (Boufal, 82’) – N/R, Was saved by Bono after his poor pass resulted in a threatening Felix shot but help edhis team see out the game. AP -
PORTUGAL RATINGS: Diogo Costa - 6, Gathered Boufal’s shot convincingly but was outjumped by En Nesyri as he scored the winner. Did well to keep out Ziyech’s free-kick and stop Aboukhlal. AFP -
Diogo Dalot - 7, Made a great challenge to stop Attiat-Allah’s cross, but the Moroccan full-back ended up having far more joy down that side in the first half, before Dalot put in a strong display in the second half. Did brilliantly to stop Cheddira getting through. AFP -
Pepe - 5, Showed intent with his passing but there wasn’t always the quality to match, while he headed wide from a brilliant opportunity in the final moments. AFP -
Ruben Dias - 6, Had looked dominant in the air in both boxes before seemingly ducking out when En Nesyri scored the opener, likely expecting his goalkeeper to gather the ball. Put in a great tackle to stop Ziyech breaking forward. AFP -
Raphael Guerreiro - 6, Saw a powerful effort blocked and played a good pass for Felix’s chance but struggled defensively against Ziyech. EPA -
Bernardo Silva - 6, Was happy to accept the ball under pressure and played a great pass to get Felix into a one-on-one. Picked out Fernandes brilliantly for his chance and couldn’t quite get enough on the free-kick pass to turn it goalwards. AFP -
Ruben Neves - 6, Did the basics well on the ball but struggled to keep up with Morocco’s midfield at times, as was epitomised when he resorted to pulling back Ounahi. AFP -
Otavio - 7, Took up good positions and picked his moments to progress. Turned brilliantly and provided an inviting cross for Goncalo Ramos’ chance. However, he went down very dramatically at times. EPA -
Bruno Fernandes - 6, Always worked hard and but the quality of his passing varied. Hit the crossbar with an audacious effort, then fired over from a promising position. Couldn’t quite execute his pass to Bernardo Silva. Getty -
Goncalo Ramos - 4, Having been the star man against Switzerland, it was easy to forget that Ramos was on the pitch at times as Morocco’s defence marshalled him well. Headed wide from a great opportunity. AFP -
Joao Felix - 6, Had an early header saved, a shot deflected off El Yamiq before sailing narrowly wide and a first-time effort that he completely wasted. Had some poor touches and struggled in one-on-ones against Hakimi. His brilliant shot was denied by Bounou. AFP -
SUBS: Joao Cancelo (Guerreiro, 51’) - 6, Provided some moments of quality but often found himself being matched by Hakimi, Ziyech or both. His ball into the box was just too high for Dias. Getty -
Cristiano Ronaldo (Neves, 51’) - 6, Was involved immediately but his cross was gathered by Bono. Pickpocketed by Boufal as he lined up a shot before being denied by Bono after racing through. Getty -
Rafael Leao (Ramos, 69’) - 6, Showed immediate intent and lured Dari into getting a yellow card, then delivered a brilliant cross that Pepe should have scored from. AP -
Vitinha (Otavio, 69’) - 6, Played plenty of nice passes but none that notably progressed the play for Portugal. Booked for a late challenge on Ounahi AP -
Ricardo Horta (Dalot, 80’) – N/R, His first pass went straight to a Moroccan and he didn’t improve much, failing to get much out of Attiyat-Allah. AFP
French clubs have been the route to professional status for several of Morocco’s heroes in Qatar, including Regragui, born in France and a full-back in Ligue 1 or 2 for most of his playing career.
Those now playing in France have mostly spent the past four months looking up from the wrong end of the top table. Azzedine Ounahi, dynamic in midfield throughout the World Cup, and Sofiane Boufal, the dash of unpredictable menace in the forward line, will return later this month to Angers and a battle to haul themselves off the foot of Ligue 1.
The situation at Brest, who defender Achraf Dari joined from African club champions Wydad in the summer, is hardly better. Brest sit outside the relegation zone only on goal difference.
Up at the top of the French domestic hierarchy stands Kylian Mbappe, 19 Paris Saint-Germain goals this season and five for France in Qatar.
But ask Mbappe if there’s anybody who he’d less like to have marking his favoured left-wing position than Achraf Hakimi, and he would struggle for an answer. Mbappe has described Morocco’s Hakimi, his PSG colleague, as the “best right-back in the world”.
It’s one position where Morocco certainly trump France, who have been playing Jules Kounde at right-back, acknowledging that Kounde, of Barcelona, feels more comfortable as a central defender. Theo Hernandez, who gave away a penalty in France’s 2-1 win over England in the last-16, is also covering a position, left-back, where his brother Lucas, was first pick until injury ruled him out.
Fitness issues have heavily affected France’s team, with N’Golo Kante, Paul Pogba, Presnel Kimpembe and Lucas Hernandez all ruled out. And Les Bleus are leaking goals far more than they did progressing through the last World Cup. In Russia four years ago, they kept four clean sheets on the way to the final. They have conceded in all five of their matches in Qatar.
It means Morocco’s impregnability is envied by Didier Deschamps, the France head coach.
“They’ve let in just one goal so far,” he said. “And when you look at the teams they have eliminated, nobody can call it a surprise they are where they are.”
Regragui’s challenge is to retain Morocco’s defensive rigour despite injuries. By the end of Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Portugal, he was without three of his first-choice back four, West Ham United’s Nayef Aguerd and Bayern Munich’s Noussair Mazraoui unfit to start, France-born captain Romain Saiss stretchered off just before the hour.
Health bulletins on defenders, as well as on the commanding midfield anchor Sofyan Amrabat, who spoke of feeling “heavy-legged” against Portugal, will be closely monitored over the next two days – by millions of compatriots at home, all across Moroccan communities in France, and by the many new followers the World Cup’s self-assured underdogs keep gaining.
