World Cup 2022 LIVE: Mbappe’s France take on Morocco for place in Qatar final against Messi’s Argentina

France are looking to overcome tournament surprises Morocco in tonight’s World Cup semi-final in Qatar – with a place in the final against Lionel Messi’s Argentina lying in wait.

The winner of tonight’s match at the Al Bayt Stadium will face Argentina after the South American champions comofortably beat Croatia 3-0 on Tuesday night, with Messi scoring from the penalty spot and Julian Alvarez netting twice.

“Well, what I can say is that I am enjoying this a lot,” 35-year-old Messi said with a smile after the match. “I am feeling really good. This is what we’ve been doing in every match. The previous match was a big sacrifice and we went into extra time. That wasn’t easy. Today we were tired but we pulled our strengths to earn this victory.”

Follow updates on the build-up to the World Cup semi-finals and all the latest news from Qatar 2022 below:

1671034806Why isn’t Didier Deschamps seen as a coaching genius?Didier Deschamps was discussing the secret of his success. “There is no secret,” he said, providing the kind of answer to explain why someone who, in a few days’ time, could rank as the joint most successful manager in the history of the World Cup is rarely seen as any kind of coaching genius.

An understated figure has assessed a formidable CV while remaining relatively unheralded. Only two men have manager World Cup-winning sides, captained World Cup-winning teams, European Championship-winning and Champions League-winning teams: Franz Beckenbauer and Deschamps. The Frenchman was one of the first to win the European Cup with two clubs as a player; as a coach, he has taken Monaco to the final, an achievement that has stood the test of time, and France to the Euro 2016 final. He has won the Nations League, which may or may not acquire more meaning in time. Now he could join Vittorio Pozzo, Italy’s coach in 1934 and 1938, as the only two-time World Cup-winning manager.

Is Deschamps an all-time great or a man who was in the right place at the right time? Both, perhaps. One of his closest allies, his captain for a decade, Hugo Lloris offered some insight. “He has of course tremendous experience as a player and a coach at international level,” the goalkeeper said. “He is calm and collected and transmits that to the players. He is an inspiration to the players. We have a great relationship between players and coach and it is not a coincidence he has been a coach for such a long time.”

Michael Jones14 December 2022 16:20

1671034206Lionel Messi takes flight to deliver a piece of World Cup historyTwo hours before kick-off, fans milled up and down Lusail Boulevard in a hubbub of heart-pumping, stomach-gripping excitement. It is a wide street full of palm trees and bright shops and generic restaurants, a themepark of a place, and this so-called ‘city of the future’ felt like a weird location for some football history. But here they waited, outside McDonald’s and Nando’s and Sainsbury’s, wondering what the night had in store.

This was where Argentina’s destiny would be decided; or rather Lionel Messi’s, for that was who they’d come to see. It was the only way to explain why, beyond Argentina’s core of travelling supporters, thousands of local fans were here wearing Argentina shirts and draped in Argentinian flags. Inside the giant illuminated stadium, a group of young Arabic men took their seats wearing traditional Keffiyeh headdress coloured in the famous blue and white stripes. Thousands of people had come not really to see a World Cup semi-final, nor even to see a football match, as such. They’d come to see a moment.

Messi has his own gravitational pull, one which extends from the streets of Rosario to the bland boulevards of Lusail and far beyond. At one minute to 10pm in Doha, a posse of local volunteers rolled up the giant centre-piece covering the middle portion of the pitch and lugged it up on to their shoulders. As they prepared to march away, suddenly their heads began to spin to the left, one after another like dominos. There was Messi, a few feet across the grass, walking to his mark for the start of the World Cup semi-final.

Michael Jones14 December 2022 16:10

1671033606France’s key playerEngland did a decent job of keeping Kylian Mbappe quiet on Saturday night but he remains the tournament’s top scorer to date with five goals from as many games.

Combining power, speed and clinical finishing, Mbappe is one of the best players on the planet.

(AFP via Getty Images)

Michael Jones14 December 2022 16:00

1671033006France won’t ‘fall into a trap’ against Morocco, Raphael Varane insistsRaphael Varane insists France will not “fall into the trap” of simply thinking a place in the World Cup final is theirs for the taking.

The defending champions are just two victories away from becoming the first side to retain the trophy since Brazil in 1962 after reaching the semi-finals with a hard-fought win over England on Saturday.

Standing between them and a final against Argentina or Croatia are Qatar 2022 surprise package Morocco on Wednesday.

Les Bleus are strong favourites to get through but Varane is not taking anything for granted against a Morocco side who have conceded just one goal on their unexpected run to the last four.

Michael Jones14 December 2022 15:50

1671032406Who is Morocco’s key player?Such have been Morocco’s all-in committed performances to get this far, it would be hard to single out one individual.

Hakim Ziyech and Youssef En-Nesyri bring attacking flair while goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was named man of the match in the Portugal win, but Morocco have consistently played as a unit.

(AFP via Getty Images)

Michael Jones14 December 2022 15:40

1671031806‘The world is with Morocco’ on uncharted course through World CupFor Walid Regragui, it was not enough to contemplate one underdog whose improbable path led to a bid to become world champions. His thoughts turned to another. Morocco had become Africa’s first ever semi-finalists on the global stage and their manager turned his thoughts to another sport.

“We have made our people proud and our continent proud and so many people around the world proud,” he said. “When you watch Rocky you want to support Rocky Balboa and we are the Rocky of the World Cup.”

One unlikely story began in the backstreets of Philadelphia. Another stemmed from Montreal, Madrid and Morocco, given the importance of their diaspora. They have found fans in Africa and the Arab world. Morocco see themselves as the people’s champions. In a part of the world where it seemed the preference was for the rich and famous, for Brazil and Argentina as teams, for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as players, they are the outsiders who have captured the imagination.

Michael Jones14 December 2022 15:30

1671031206‘We want to keep making history’: Morocco weary but not wilting as World Cup run goes onWhen Wolves had one of the best defensive records in Europe last season and Romain Saiss seemed to be in the form of his life, Bruno Lage came up with a new nickname for an otherwise unheralded centre-back: “The Moroccan Maldini.” It may turn out the former Wolves manager was wrong. Because, for everything the great Paolo Maldini won, there was one medal he was missing. Lage should have picked another defensive great: the Moroccan Daniel Passarella, the Moroccan Franz Beckenbauer, the Moroccan Bobby Moore.

Because each was a World Cup-winning captain and now Saiss, currently of Besiktas, could join them. If one obstacle in his path is France, the country of his birth, another is the injury that meant he was stretchered off in the quarter-final victory over Portugal. The immediate sense was to fear the 32-year-old’s tournament was over. Saiss hopes he may yet be able to face Les Bleus.

“I will try,” he said. “I don’t know. I will see and do some exams to see what kind of injury I have but I will try my best to be on the pitch. I hope it’s going to be OK but if I feel it’s too difficult I will not take any risk and put my team in trouble just to play the semi-final. But I will do everything to be there just as I did everything to be here for 55 minutes [against Portugal].”

Michael Jones14 December 2022 15:20

1671030606How Antoine Griezmann reinvented himself as France’s midfield conductorUntil October, Atletico Madrid used Griezmann for a maximum of 29 minutes per match. His loan contract dictated that if he made a certain number of 30-minute appearances then Atletico would owe his parent club Barcelona €40m, and they didn’t fancy paying up. So, before the dispute was resolved, Griezmann’s season began with precise bursts from the bench.

Arriving at the World Cup, his minutes this season read: 28, 28, 26, 27, 29, 27, 27, 90, 29, 90, 65, 90, 90, 90, 76, 90, 30, 90, 73, 90, 90. If French medical staff were to design a plan for a 31-year-old midfielder going into a mid-season World Cup, you can imagine it would look something like this, gently simmering before bringing him to the boil.

By way of comparison, Harry Kane was cooked by Tottenham manager Antonio Conte. Kane started all of Tottenham’s 23 pre-World Cup games and finished 21 of those, totaling almost 2,000 minutes compared to Griezmann’s 1,264. Few players arrived in Qatar with as many miles on the clock as the England captain.

Michael Jones14 December 2022 15:10

1671030006FA to consider foreign candidates if Gareth Southgate stands downThe Football Association will consider foreign candidates to replace Gareth Southgate if the England manager decides to stand down from his post, the Daily Telegraph reports.

The paper adds that former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino and ex-Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel are among those open to the prospect of succeeding Southgate, who said he needed time to consider his future as England head coach after the World Cup quarter-final exit against France.

Staying on the topic of who will replace the England boss, the Daily Star speculates FA bosses are considering Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers. The 49-year-old has a good track record when it comes to working with young talent and came close to winning the title with Liverpool back in 2014.

Michael Jones14 December 2022 15:00

1671029466Luka Modric denied final masterpiece but departs World Cup stage with his greatness securedHis final contribution brought the ultimate indignity. The byword for precision was smacked in the face by his own shot. Admittedly, it ricocheted back off Alexis Mac Allister and there was little Luka Modric could do about it. The winner of the Golden Ball in the last World Cup nevertheless ended up with the ball in his face in this.

And that, bar a third-place play-off, was Modric’s final involvement on this stage. His number went up seconds after; in effect, the white flag had been raised with it. When the captain came off, it was all over for Croatia. They were 3-0 down. He had wrested back control of one World Cup semi-final, his every pass asserting control with a trademark blend of elegance and intelligence, but that was four years ago against England. There was no repeat. Modric can feel timeless, but his time is up in World Cups.

They all knew it, the Argentina fans who joined in the ovation when Lovro Majer replaced him, his former Real Madrid team-mate Angel Di Maria, who sought him out after the final whistle, the now retired Sergio Aguero who came to offer his condolences in the tunnel. Argentina had been graceless winners against the Netherlands in the quarter-final; when it came to Modric, however, they recognised greatness. Perhaps it was the parallel with Lionel Messi, with the other old-timer in his final World Cup; flip the result and others would have commiserated with him. One way or another, sadness was a certainty.

Michael Jones14 December 2022 14:51