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How to follow France v Morocco: Kick-off time, live stream, talkSPORT coverage

talksport.com, 12 December 2022, 15:43
France and Morocco will go head-to-head for a place in the World Cup final later this week.

The defending champions beat England 2-1 in the quarter-finals to set up an intriguing game against the tournament's surprise team.

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Les Bleus weren't at their best, but goals from Aurelien Tchouameni and Olivier Giroud were enough for Didier Deschamps's side.

Meanwhile, the Atlas Lions beat Portugal 1-0 to send Cristiano Ronaldo and co home in tears and make World Cup history in the process.

Morocco are the only African side to make it to the last four of FIFA's premier competition, and they are just one match away from reaching the final to face either Croatia or Argentina.

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France v Morocco: Date and kick-off time

This World Cup semi-final clash will be held on Wednesday, December 14.

Kick-off at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor is scheduled for 7pm UK time.

France v Morocco: How to watch on TV

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This game is set to be shown on BBC One, with coverage scheduled to start at 6:30pm.

The match will be free-to-air and can also be streamed through BBC iPlayer.

France v Morocco: How to listen on the radio

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Adrian Durham will be your host with Nigel Adderley and Stuart Pearce providing commentary.

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

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France v Morocco: Squads and team news

Morocco have several injury problems to worry about, with Nayef Aguerd and Romain Saiss major injury doubts.

Noussair Mazraoui was absent from the quarter-final win over Portugal and faces a race against time to make it for this one.

And Walid Cheddira will definitely miss out after picking up two yellow cards in a short space of time against Portugal.

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Meanwhile, France will be without Lucas Hernandez and Karim Benzema from their initial squad.

But apart from that, they don't have any other injury problems, so could name an unchanged XI from the one that beat England.

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

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Morocco

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: What has been said?

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France head coach Didier Deschamps after the win over England: "It's fabulous, it was a big game.

"We played a superb England team who are strong technically and physically.

"It's brilliant for the players to be in the last four again. In these moments, you kind of wish time could stop for a while.

"But tonight we're going to enjoy it. We got a bit lucky, though, because we gave away two penalties.

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"We kept our lead with our hearts and our guts."

France v Morocco: Match facts

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.

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.

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 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).

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).

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

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 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).

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.

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.

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).

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).

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