World Cup Now: We have yet to see the best version of France
France defeated Morocco 2-0 on Tuesday to earn its second consecutive World Cup final berth and move one step closer to becoming the first repeat champion since Brazil in 1962.
France kicked off the scoring early in the first half when Theo Hernández scored in the game's fifth minute. The opening goal was the earliest scored by any side in a World Cup semifinal since 1958 when Vavá scored within the first two minutes for Brazil against the French.
Morocco was able to generate some solid chances in the second half but was unable to find the back of the net. Despite Morocco controlling possession, France was able to counterattack and pick up an insurance goal late in the second half when Randal Kolo Muani connected on a bouncing ball in the box. The goal came less than one minute after Kolo Munai was subbed into the game for France, making it the third-fastest goal scored by a substitute in World Cup history.
France vs. Morocco highlights
On the latest "World Cup Now," Jimmy Conrad, DaMarcus Beasley, Melissa Ortiz and Sacha Kljestan broke down France's victory over Morocco and previewed the World Cup final.
Conrad: The future is very bright for this Moroccan team. I think it speaks a lot about the quality of this Moroccan national team, and the coach and players are likely now going to be able to move on to bigger clubs and play on the biggest platform.
On the other side, this is the first time France has ever made back-to-back World Cup finals, so you have that going for you. They are also on the precipice of winning back-to-back titles, which hasn't been done since Brazil did it in 1958 and 1962, so it has been a while for anyone to even be in this position, and it really speaks to their depth and quality despite the big names missing from this squad. It hasn't always been aesthetically pleasing, but they still found a way to dig deep and get the result they needed to get back to the final.
Kljestan: France is a deserved finalist in this tournament. I think they have shown a lot of quality. They have shown being able to take pressure without possession in this game. I think Antoine Griezmann has been fantastic.
I think we have to give a lot of credit to France coach Didier Deschamps for organizing this group, getting these players on the field and getting them back to the final. I mean, of course, the players who were brought in, organizing them with the players they were missing has been fantastic. We didn't think they had this much depth, but the few guys they needed to step up have done really well. The amount of talent that the French national team has in its 35- or 40-man roster is just unbelievable.
France definitely has some deficiencies in the back. I think that is a fairly accurate statement. We have seen Griezmann dropping back and tactically playing center back some of the time. There is only so far with guys making last-ditch effort plays because eventually your luck runs out a little bit and the ball doesn't bounce your way.
Beasley: What can you say about France? As Sasha said, they deserve to be back in the World Cup final. Full credit to France. They haven't been as great as we would have liked them to be, but they always find a way to win. They know how to win. They how to defend and defend as a team. They just know what it takes to win matches. It is incredibly difficult to make it to two World Cup finals back-to-back, and it just goes to show what they put into their craft and how much they enjoy playing with each other.
Ortiz: I think in the past two matches for France, whether it is this one against Morocco or the other one against England, we haven't seen the best version of France in these last two performances. Whereas, if you compare them to Argentina, we may have seen their best performance last night. And I think that is where the difference is going to be tactically going into this last match. Argentina had an incredible performance, and when you consider Julián Álvarez playing the role of Griezmann, where he was up to attack and then going back to defend and do the dirty work, which Griezmann did today. So we are all looking for Kylian Mbappé against Lionel Messi, but we are also going to be able to sit back and analyze who are the unsung heroes who are doing the dirty work.
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