Former England footballer Sol Campbell feels France deserved to be in their second successive FIFA World Cup final after registering a 2-0 victory over Morocco at Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday.
Theo Hernandez’s goal in the fifth minute and Randal Kolo Muani’s close-range effort in the 79th minute sealed a 2-0 semifinal victory for the defending champions and set up a title clash against Lionel Messi-led Argentina at the Lusail Stadium on December 18.
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France, coached by Didier Deschamps, overcame numerous injuries to key players before the start of the tournament, including to Ballon d’Or striker Karim Benzema, to reach the FIFA World Cup 2022 final.
They now have the opportunity to replicate Italy (1934, 1938) and Brazil (1958, 1962) to become only the third nation to win back-to-back FIFA World Cup titles.
“Hats off to France. Two finals back-to-back. Not many have done that. Excellent performance. They did enough on the day. They had extra quality. They were in the right positions at the right time. They looked like a more quality side than Morocco and deserved it,” said Campbell on the VISA Match Centre show on Sports18.
Gilberto Silva, who won the 2002 FIFA World Cup with Brazil, shared his thoughts on why Morocco, the first African and Arab nation to reach the last-four stage of the tournament, lost the semifinal clash to France despite holding on to more possession throughout the match.
“They had to push themselves and try to score a goal to equalize but it did not work out. In the end, the quality of the French players, they were very solid at the back and did not give many chances.”
Morocco, who had a dream run in the tournament by beating stronger sides like Belgium, Spain and Portugal, still have a third-place playoff to play against first semi-final losers Croatia on December 17.
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