This was a fair decision by FIFA: Former USMNT player
Former U.S. Men’s National Team defender Jonathan Bornstein weighed in on FIFA’s decision to lift Balogun’s red card suspension, allowing him to participate in the important Round of 16 World Cup match. Bornstein deemed the move “appropriate,” especially when comparing it to the backlash directed at the Norwegian national coach. The U.S. is set to face top-ranked Belgium in their upcoming match.
For the second World Cup in a row, France triumphed over Morocco, securing a 2-0 victory on home turf.
In 2022, Morocco made history as the first African team to reach the semi-finals, despite ultimately losing to France, which advanced to the World Cup final in Qatar.
Fast-forward four years, and the two teams met again in the quarter-finals. France secured their advancement with second-half goals from Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembele.
France now awaits the victor of the impending clash between Spain and Belgium, scheduled in Los Angeles at 3 PM on Friday.
Similar to their earlier encounter with Paraguay in the Round of 16, Morocco prioritized defensive strategies to limit scoring opportunities for players like Mbappé.
Initially, Morocco’s defense seemed to hold strong, but France quickly shifted to an offensive strategy and maintained pressure throughout the match. A foul within Morocco’s box led to a penalty kick.
As Mbappé approached the penalty spot, the referee paused for a potential VAR review before officially awarding the penalty. This caused some frustration for Mbappé, who had to wait before taking the shot. The Moroccan goalkeeper, Yassin “Bono” Bounou, anticipated the kick, diving to his left, successfully blocking Mbappé’s attempt in the first half.
Morocco struggled to create genuine scoring opportunities, which underscored France’s dominance. It seemed inevitable that France would eventually break through.
After returning to an aggressive approach in the second half, Mbappé found a gap within Morocco’s defense, dodging defenders and delivering a well-placed shot, marking his eighth World Cup goal.
At the competition, Mbappé now shares the top goal-scorer title with Argentina’s Lionel Messi, having reached this milestone 20 times in his career. Messi, who set the World Cup’s all-time scoring record early on, is still 21 goals ahead in total.
With Morocco conceding and attempting to equalize, France seized more opportunities. Dembele, taking advantage of the space, made a crucial score in the 66th minute with a shot from his less dominant foot, which eluded Bounou’s reach.
With the score now 2-0, France became increasingly confident, knowing they needed this cushion to secure the win. Though Morocco made efforts, nothing seemed to succeed. Didier Deschamps’ squad advanced to the semi-finals once again, reaffirming their formidable presence in the tournament.
France is set to play in Dallas on July 14 at 3 PM, where they could potentially meet the Spanish team, which has yet to allow any goals during this tournament, or the Belgian team, which recently eliminated Team USA to move forward.
