90min
·10 December 2022
90min
·10 December 2022
France vs Morocco isn't a fixture with a rich history, although it was part of one of the most memorable World Cup runs in recent times in 2022.
Les Bleus are global heavyweights who play their football in a stratosphere which is rarely visited by Morocco, although that narrative took a major turn in Qatar as they faced off in the semi-final - just the sixth time they have ever met.
Here's how the two sides have fared in their previous meetings.
France and Morocco have met six times in official international fixtures. The first took place in 1988, which France won 2-1, but their history goes back further.
They played unofficial games in the 1960s and also squared off in the Mediterranean Games.
A 1998 friendly saw Salaheddine Bassir score twice for Morocco and France replied through Laurent Blanc and Youri Djorkaeff. The game somewhat unusually ended with a penalty shootout which the Atlas Lions won.
The two sides would meet two more times in 1999 and 2000, France winning both encounters. After a 1-0 win earned by another Djorkaeff strike, Les Bleus would then smash Morocco 5-1 thanks to goals from Thierry Henry, Djorkaeff, Christophe Dugarry, Nicolas Anelka and Sylvain Wiltord.
The next game between France and Morocco came in 2007 as they played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at Stade de France. Tarik Sektioui scored for the visitors early on before Sidney Govou equalised, with Samir Nasri putting the hosts ahead in the 76th minute. Youssef Mokhtari would make it 2-2 just under ten minutes later.
Fast-forward to 2022 and you'll find the World Cup semi-final meeting between the pair. France were always expected to make it but few would have predicted Morocco would make it so far. The African side had already seen of Belgium, Spain and Portugal, but this would be a step too far.
Blighted by injuries, Morocco would fall to a 2-0 defeat courtesy of goals from Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani.
Morocco's unlikely run to the last four was brought to a heartbreaking end as the reigning world champions flexed their quality and secured a 2-0 victory.
We mentioned a fella by the name of Youri Djorkaeff a fair amount earlier, so it's no surprise to learn he is the leading goalscorer in this fixture with three strikes.
Salaheddine Bassir's double in the 1998 friendly makes him the second highest goalscorer, but no other player has netted more than once.