Following the Lionel Messi show when Argentina outclassed Croatia, the second Fifa World Cup semi-final will see France take on giant slayers Morocco at the Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday night.
The French attackers will have a tough task at hand, as they prepare to go toe-to-toe against a resilient Moroccan defense that only conceded one goal since the tournament got under way on November 20. The goal came from an own goal against Canada in the group stages.
The two sides will be meeting for the first time in a competitive match, with all their five previous meetings being friendlies. Their last friendly match in 2007 ended in a 2-2 draw in Saint-Denis Stadium in France.
Despite the reigning champions not having lost to Morocco before, France is customary to losing against African teams. They are the only nation in the history of the World Cup to lose more matches against an African side.
In 2002, they lost 1-0 against Senegal, which saw them crash out of the World Cup in the group stages. In 2010, host nation South Africa beat France 2-1 and also got eliminated in the group stages. Recently, they were stunned by Tunisia in their Group D final match in Qatar, losing by one goal to nil.
Didier Deschamps and his charges will be looking to book a spot in the final and hope to retain their title. That would make them the third nation to win the World Cup back-to-back after Brazil and Italy.
Meanwhile, having already made history by becoming the first African side to qualify for the semi-finals, the Atlas Lions are gearing up to make more history by being the first African nation to feature in a World Cup final against Argentina on Sunday.
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