The first two rounds of the World Cup knockout stage have concluded, leaving only the tournament’s top echelon of teams with World Cup glory still left to play for. Eight teams remain in the quarterfinals, and the first matchup is Morocco vs. France on July 9 in Boston. Let’s take a look at both teams and preview their upcoming matchup.
Morocco vs. France will be a rematch of their memorable 2022 World Cup semifinal, in which France defeated Morocco 2-0. Morocco were the underdogs in 2022, putting together a historic run by eliminating giants such as Portugal and Spain en route to the country’s first-ever World Cup semifinal appearance.
It will be much different this time around, as although France are still the favorites, Morocco are a much more experienced and cohesive squad than they were four years ago.
Morocco come into this matchup in great form after finishing second in Group C with seven points, then earning a huge penalty shootout victory over the Netherlands in the Round of 32 before dominating Canada 3-0 in the Round of 16. They are in outstanding form, having remained unbeaten in 47 of their last 48 international matches across all competitions, and have scored nine goals in five games this summer.
They are still led by Achraf Hakimi, one of the best right-backs in the world, who has enjoyed a strong tournament, and Ismael Saibari, their leading goalscorer with three goals, who also converted the winning penalty in the shootout against the Netherlands to send Morocco into the Round of 16. Morocco seem to be getting better with each match, but they will need to be at their best to take down one of the tournament favorites in France.
France have absolutely dominated their competition at this World Cup but will face their biggest test yet against Morocco. They cruised through the group stage, scoring 10 goals while conceding just two, and followed that up with a dominant 3-0 win over Sweden in the Round of 32 and a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Paraguay in the Round of 16.
France have so much depth across the board, and their star players, including Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola and Désiré Doué, have all enjoyed excellent tournaments. With so many big names in the squad, you might expect some friction within the team, but it has been the exact opposite, with the whole squad playing beautiful team soccer toward a collective goal.
The biggest name on the squad is Kylian Mbappe, who has totaled an incredible seven goals in five matches. He is already second all-time in World Cup goals and trails only Lionel Messi (eight goals) in this edition’s Golden Boot race.
France will face their biggest test of the tournament yet against a Morocco squad that will be eager to avenge their 2022 World Cup semifinal loss in what should be a thrilling opener to the quarterfinals.
The winner of this contest will face the winner of the Spain vs. Belgium quarterfinal.
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