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Match 62
France v Morocco
France overcame England but in a nervy manner, relying on a missed penalty to avoid extra time and the possibility of penalties. England asked numerous questions of the French defence and were answered with two penalties being awarded, which Les Bleus will need to reflect on and address before facing Morocco.
While Aurélien Tchouameni scored a beautiful goal in the first half, he scythed down Bukayo Saka down to give up a penalty in the second, and Dayot Upamecano seemingly took Harry Kane to ground just outside the box in another risky manoeuvre. Of course, if France simply outscore the opposition their defence may not need to be as water-tight as other teams but against a Morocco side that have only conceded one goal all tournament this may be a risky ploy.
Kylian Mbappe was well-marked against England but France proved they don't solely rely on him to win matches - Tchouameni's strike was a peach and Olivier Giroud did what he does best, getting in front of Harry Maguire and nodding home the winner. The French frontline should remain unchanged and with Antoine Griezmann pulling the strings in midfield or supplying superb crosses this will probably be Morocco's biggest test to date, particularly with Romain Saiss potentially unavailable.
Hugo Lloris also deserves plaudits, pulling off a number of tremendous saves to keep France ahead. Didier Deschamps may want to consider Liverpool's Ibrahima Konate and Arsenal's William Saliba if he reviews the backline and should be nervous about AC Milan's Theo Hernandez who suffered against the in-form Saka.
Morocco will be sweating on Saiss having to be substituted due to injury but can take heart that they still kept a clean sheet against a dangerous Portugal side that scored six goals in their previous outing. Sofyan Amrabat was once again everywhere, collecting every ball in the midfield and jostling Portugal at every opportunity while Yassine Bounou in goal proved his worth in another Man of the Match performance, who subsequently gave the award to goal-scorer Youssef En-Nesyri.
Morocco can also be buoyed by left-back Yahia Attiyat Allah's performance in place of injured Bayern Munich man Noussair Mazraoui - it was Attyat-Allah's looping cross that allowed En-Nesryi to get the jump on some indecisive Portugal defending. In the spirit of not changing what isn't broken, manager Walid Regragui will likely keep to the same tactics of defensive compactness combined with dangerous counter-attacking - he has the pace and firepower in his lineup to shock any team, and it's due time that Morocco are no longer underestimated.
France will be favoured with their attacking brilliance but if Morocco can make the game uncomfortable for Les Bleus we may see yet another tournament favourite bow out...
