One of many nice sports activities tales of the 12 months will attain a fever pitch on Wednesday as Morocco, the most important Cinderella story on the World Cup since 2002, will tackle defending champion France for a spot within the remaining.
Final week, Morocco surprised Portugal 1-0 to ink their spot within the semifinals.
Morocco will definitely have the backing of the group and the world past French borders, however is the fairytale nature of this run inflating the worth on the Atlas Lions in opposition to maybe the perfect workforce on the planet?
Beneath we break down Morocco vs. France at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday on FOX.
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France vs. Morocco prediction
Not solely is Morocco within the semifinals regardless of being a large lengthy shot earlier than the match, however the Atlas Lions have gotten this far by going the laborious route. Morocco topped Group F forward of Belgium and Croatia, after which they defeated Spain and Portugal of their first two knockout matches.
Oftentimes when a Cinderella story like this emerges, the knee-jerk response is to chalk it as much as luck, however that simply hasn’t been the case for Morocco. The Atlas Lions are positively counting on defensive prowess moderately than offensive aptitude to get outcomes, however that technique is working and there’s no disgrace in placing protection first.
And it’s not like they’re simply parking the bus, both. The Atlas Lions held Spain and Portugal to simply 1.9 complete anticipated objectives over their final two matches, and so they gained the xG battle, 1.4 to 0.9, in a picture-perfect efficiency in opposition to the Portuguese within the quarterfinals.
In different phrases, Morocco’s defensive solidity retains them in video games, however they’re additionally giving their opponents loads to fret about once they have the ball.
Morocco has allowed only one purpose on this match and posted clear sheets in opposition to Croatia, Belgium, Portugal and Spain, so the Atlas Lions can be assured that they'll do it once more in opposition to the defending champions.
Due to their versatility in assault and the presence of Kylian Mbappe, France represents a steeper problem than the opposite foes Morocco has vanquished, however there are additionally causes for Les Bleus to be involved on this matchup.
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As robust as France has appeared with the ball, they've needed to navigate some wobbly protection all through this match. Their semifinal in opposition to England was mainly a coin flip, however Les Bleus protection did permit 2.4 xGA to the Three Lions and was additionally charged with 1.7 xGA versus a Polish workforce that was actually poor for a lot of the match.
France ought to have comparable issues in opposition to Morocco, who've proficient gamers that may win a recreation with a second of magic.
It’s a gameplan that’s labored completely so far, and it’s one which makes the Atlas Lions a really harmful underdog as soon as once more on Wednesday.
Morocco vs. France prediction
Morocco to win in 90 minutes (+650, FanDuel)
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