BY BHEKIMPILO WEZA
The hopes of an African nation reaching the World Cup finals ended last night as holders France beat Morocco by two goals to zero in a semi final match played in Qatar.
France set up a heavyweight World Cup final against Argentina after an early goal by Theo Hernandez and a late one from Randal Kolo Muani.
France scored as early as the fifth minute to unsettle the African nation when Kylian Mbappé’s strike was blocked and Hernandez was in the right place to give holders the lead with a low drive into the left bottom corner.
The goal brought some urgency to the Moroccans, but France proved to be too strong with dominance in all departments with Antonio Griezmann pulling the strings in the middle of the park.
The second half had the Moroccans pushing hard for an equaliser, but substitutes by the coach Walid Regragui did not raise their game as expected leaving the African nation to chase shadows the whole night.
France got their second, ten minutes before full time when substitute Muani scored from a Mbappé assist to send France to the finals.
Despite the defeat, Morocco heads remained high with a record breaking campaign, which saw them not conceding a goal prior to the semi final save for an own goal that they conceded in the group stage.
They are the first team to reach the World Cup semis and to win a bronze medal.
Meanwhile, Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 to reach the World Cup final as Lionel Messi worked his magic to move one win away from winning the trophy he covets most.
Messi scored the opener from the penalty spot, then Julian Alvarez scored a superb second and Messi then mesmerized Argentina’s supporters to set up Alvarez to seal his double and Argentina’s spot in the final that will be played on Sunday against France.