France v Morocco LIVE: World Cup champs eye another final after England win

Les Bleus kept their hopes of back-to-back titles alive by ending England's dreams with a 2-1 win to reach the final four.

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Morocco face the biggest test to their magical World Cup journey to date after overcoming both Spain and Portugal to become the first African team to reach the semi-finals.

The winner of this one will face either Croatia or Argentina in the final, while the two losers from each will be involved in a third place playoff.

France v Morocco: talkSPORT coverage

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This World Cup semi-final will take place on Wednesday, December 14, with kick-off at the Al Bayt Stadium scheduled for 7pm.

talkSPORT will have live coverage of this match, with our pre-show starting at 5pm with Adrian Durham as your presenter.

Commentary will then come from Jim Proudfoot and former England defender Stuart Pearce.

talkSPORT.com will also have a live blog of the action too.

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France v Morocco: Squads and team news

Didier Deschamps have no fresh injury concerns to contend with, as Theo Hernandez continues to replace his stricken brother Lucas.

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Morocco meanwhile will be without striker Walid Cheddira due to suspension and Romain Saiss is a major doubt after he was stretched off during the win over Portugal.

France

Goalkeepers: Alphonse Areola, Hugo Lloris, Steve Mandanda

Defenders: Lucas Hernandez, Theo Hernandez, Axel Disasi, Ibrahima Konate, Jules Kounde, Benjamin Pavard, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano, Raphael Varane

Midfielders Eduardo Camavinga, Youssouf Fofana, Matteo Guendouzi, Adrien Rabiot, Aurelien Tchouameni, Jordan Veretout

Forwards: Karim Benzema, Kingsley Coman, Ousmane Dembele, Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Christopher Nkunku, Marcus Thuram

Morocco

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Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou, Munir Mohamedi, Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti

Defenders: Achraf Hakimi, Noussair Mazraoui, Roman Saiss, Nayef Aguerd, Badr Benoun, Jawad El Yamiq, Achraf Dari, Yahia Attiyat Allah

Midfielders: Sofyan Amrabat, Amine Harit, Azzedine Ounahi, Ilias Chair, Selim Amallah, Yahya Jabrane, Abdelhamid Sabiri, Bilal El Khannous

Forwards: Hakim Ziyech, Youssef En-Nesyri, Abderrazak Hamdallah, Abde Ezzalzouli, Sofiane Boufal, Zakaria Aboukhlal, Walid Cheddira

France v Morocco: Match facts

Youssef En-Nesyri became Morocco's all-time leading goalscorer at the World Cup with his winner against Portugal in the quarter-finals (3). Two of his three goals have come at this tournament, and he could become just the fourth African to score 3+ goals in a single edition of the World Cup after Roger Milla in 1990 (4), Papa Bouba Diop in 2002 (3) and Asamoah Gyan in 2010 (3).

Olivier Giroud has scored four goals so far at the 2022 World Cup, and would be the oldest player to score five in a single edition of the tournament if he nets here. With Kylian Mbappé already on five goals so far, France could be the first team to have two players score 5+ in a single World Cup since Brazil in 2002 (Ronaldo and Rivaldo).

France's Antoine Griezmann has been involved in eight goals in his last eight World Cup starts (3 goals, 5 assists), setting up both of Les Bleus' goals in their 2-1 win against England in the quarter-final. Seven of these eight involvements have been in the knockout stages of the competition.

France manager Didier Deschamps has won 13 of his 17 World Cup games in charge (D2 L2). Victory here would put him level with Luiz Felipe Scolari on 14, and behind only Helmut Schön (16) for most manager wins in World Cup history.

Morocco have made more clearances (137) and more tackles (104) than any other side in the 2022 World Cup. Just nine of the 45 shots they've faced at this tournament have been on target (20%), with only Ecuador having a lower such percentage (19% - 4/21).

Though they've conceded in each of their last six games at the World Cup, France are looking to become the first reigning champions to reach the final of the World Cup since Brazil in 1998. The last European nation to do so were Italy in 1938.

Morocco are unbeaten in their last six World Cup matches (W3 D3), the longest unbeaten run by an African nation in World Cup history.

No opposition player has scored against Morocco so far at the 2022 World Cup, with their only goal conceded coming via an own goal against Canada. They've kept four clean sheets so far at this tournament, with the last two sides to record five in a single edition going on to lift the trophy (Spain 2010, Italy 2006).

France are playing in their seventh World Cup semi-final - having been eliminated from each of their first three (1958, 1982, 1986), they've won each of their last three matches at this stage (1998, 2006, 2018).

Morocco are looking to become the first African nation to reach the World Cup final - indeed, this game will be the first ever World Cup semi-final contested by an African side.

France have alternated between victory and defeat in their six World Cup meetings with African nations, losing 1-0 against Tunisia last time out in this year's group stage. No team has ever lost against two different African sides in the same World Cup before.

France have never lost against Morocco, with all five of their previous meetings coming in friendlies (W3 D2). The most recent encounter was a 2-2 draw in Saint-Denis in November 2007.

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