{"id":146253,"date":"2026-07-09T14:02:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T14:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/rematch-of-2022-france-face-morocco-for-world-cup-semi-final-spot\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T14:02:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T14:02:51","slug":"rematch-of-2022-france-face-morocco-for-world-cup-semi-final-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/rematch-of-2022-france-face-morocco-for-world-cup-semi-final-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"Rematch of 2022: France face Morocco for World Cup semi-final spot"},"content":{"rendered":"

France and Morocco meet again on the world\u2019s biggest stage on Thursday, renewing a rivalry forged four years ago as the two sides clash in the opening quarterfinal of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Foxborough Stadium, outside Boston.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The meeting is the seventh between the two nations, but only the second at this stage of a World Cup. The first came in 2022, when France ended Morocco\u2019s remarkable run to the last four with a 2-0 win in the semifinals, before going on to lose the final to Argentina. Of their six previous meetings, France has won four, with Morocco managing just one victory.<\/p>\n

Four years on, the context has shifted. Morocco are no longer the surprise package they were in Qatar \u2014 coach Mohamed Ouahbi said his side is no longer a surprise and takes pride in that, believing this is only the beginning of a sustained run. The Atlas Lions arrive off a comfortable group stage and a 3-0 round-of-16 win over co-hosts Canada, with Achraf Hakimi and goalkeeper Yassine Bounou anchoring a defence built to frustrate.<\/p>\n

France, meanwhile, have been the tournament\u2019s most dominant side, cruising through the group stage with wins over Senegal, Iraq, Norway and Sweden before grinding past a stubborn Paraguay on a late penalty in the round of 16. Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 has already scored seven goals and sits level atop the Golden Boot standings, while Ballon d\u2019Or holder Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 adds further attacking firepower after a hat-trick against Norway.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ouahbi has downplayed talk of revenge, insisting his side\u2019s motivation is simply to advance as far as possible and make their supporters proud. Still, few matchups carry the emotional weight of this one \u2014 a chance for Morocco to avenge their most painful defeat, and for France to prove their command of this tournament by beating the same opponent that once threatened to make history.<\/p>\n

The post Rematch of 2022: France face Morocco for World Cup semi-final spot<\/a> appeared first on KBC Digital<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

France and Morocco meet again on the world\u2019s biggest stage on Thursday, renewing a rivalry forged four years ago as the two sides clash in the opening quarterfinal of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Foxborough Stadium, outside Boston. The meeting is the seventh between the two nations, but only the second at this stage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146253\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}