FIFA World Cup games

Live updates of the France vs Morocco FIFA World Cup 2022 semifinal match at the Al Bayt Stadium.

Ziyech swings a good ball inside the box from a Morocco freekick. The ball took a massive deflection off Mbappe’s shot and fell to Hernandez. Tchouameni gets the ball again and passes the ball to Giroud this time, whose first time shot misses the target. He lobs the ball in the centre but there is no one to attack the ball. Tchouameni threads the ball to Mbappe who uses his pace to latch on to it. But the France defence doing enough to hold on to the lead again. Mbappe and Hakimi in a pace battle to reach the ball. Ounahi and Ziyech do well to keep the ball between themselves and get inside the France box. Marcus Thuram gets his head to the ball but cannot keep it on target. Ounahi with a brilliant run inside the box and Morocco is inches away from scoring a late goal but France hangs on again. Griezmann swings a dangerous cross inside the Morocco box from a France freekick. Mbappe nutmegs Amrabat and makes a darting run inside the Morocco box.

France have made two changes after Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano caught colds and missed training on December 12 and 13.

They can expect to be hailed as heroes when they return home after Saturdays’ third-place playoff against Croatia. [Morocco’s exit was tempered ](https://www.thehindu.com/sport/football/fifa-world-cup-a-politically-charged-semifinal-in-france-vs-morocco/article66262347.ece)by their achievement of becoming the first African and Arab country to reach the World Cup semi-final, a feat widely celebrated. [take on Argentina](https://www.thehindu.com/sport/football/fifa-world-cup-2022-semifinal-match-between-argentina-and-croatia-in-qatar/article66260325.ece) in the [World Cup final](https://www.thehindu.com/topic/fifa-world-cup-2022/) after beating Morocco 2-0 in an [absorbing semi-final on December 14](https://www.thehindu.com/sport/football/fifa-world-cup-2022-france-vs-morocco-semi-finals/article66258691.ece) to stay on course for a successful title defence and end the fairytale run of the north Africans in Qatar. Olivier Giroud struck the post and missed from point-blank range in the first half at the end of a barnstorming run through the middle from Aurelien Tchouameni. Mbappe was the creator of the second as he attempted first to dribble through the Morocco defence and then shot, his effort blocked but falling for Kolo Muani to net. [ Morocco overcame injury blows](https://www.thehindu.com/sport/football/dream-of-world-cup-final-ends-but-moroccans-hail-heroes/article66265897.ece) and showed no deference to France’s reputation, taking the game to them in a gallant effort that added to the glowing reputation they have earned at the tournament.

France, led by its star Kylian Mbappé, has sparkled this tournament. In defeating Morocco, the first African country to reach the World Cup semifinals, ...

It lost the first three (Brazil 1958, West Germany in 1982 and 1986). Morocco came into the match against France unbeaten in its last ten games (7 wins, 3 draws) and the first African country to advance to a World Cup semifinal. Canada is the only team credited with a score - but it was an own goal, put in the net by a Moroccan player. In the 21st minute, Morocco made an early substitution replacing their captain Romain Saiss who was injured (another defender, Nayef Aguerd, was pulled from the starting list just before kickoff also due to an injury). France is making a return trip after defeating Morocco 2-0 in the semifinal. Morocco hadn't allowed a single goal by an opponent the entire tournament until the semifinal.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup final is set after France defeated Morocco 2-0 in the semifinals. Here were the top plays!

[ FIFA World Cup 2022](/stories/soccer/world-cup-2022-5-most-memorable-upsets-of-the-tourney) ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app](https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup-men-l61-vs-l62-dec-17-2022-game-boxscore-97040)). ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app](https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup-men-w61-vs-w62-dec-18-2022-game-boxscore-97096)), while Morocco will take on [Croatia](https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/croatia-men-team) on Saturday in the third-place game ( [10 a.m. With a win, France would be just the fifth defending champ to reach the World Cup final, joining 1938 Italy, 1962 Brazil, 1990 Argentina and 1998 Brazil. Morocco is hoping this match is different from the past, however, as France is unbeaten in their five previous matchups (3-2-0). [ FIFA World Cup 2022](/stories/soccer/france-aiming-to-complete-own-fairytale-amid-messis-legendary-quest) [ FIFA World Cup 2022](/stories/soccer/whos-deeper-france-or-argentina-our-ultimate-world-cup-xi) [CONMEBOL](https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/wcq-conmebol) and [UEFA](https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/wcq-uefa) to reach the World Cup final. [ FIFA World Cup 2022](/stories/soccer/world-cup-2022-odds-how-to-bet-argentina-france-final) It was only the second goal Morocco has allowed in this World Cup, and the first was an own goal. That score would be the final result of the match. The French are now the fifth defending champions to reach the World Cup final, joining 1938 Italy, 1962 Brazil, 1990 Argentina, 1998 Brazil.

Argentina and France will face off in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final after powering through the semifinals. La Albiceleste sealed their place in the final, ...

France 0 Argentina 0 Argentina 0 France 0 Argentina 2 France 0 Friendly France 0 Argentina 1 France 2 Argentina 0

It's Lionel Messi versus Kylian Mbappe as Argentina and France chase their third world title in a dream decider in Lusail.

If quality local sport journalism is important to you, become a Stuff supporter today. A beautiful mind crunching all the player stats. You need journalists close enough to smell the liniment. Lionel Messi: “[I feel] a lot of happiness to be able to achieve this. They haven’t met since the 2018 World Cup. However, the Paris Saint-Germain striker was kept relatively quiet by both England and Morocco and hasn’t found the net since Expect a tight, cagey final nothing like the free-flowing spectacle four years ago when France thumped Croatia 4-2 in Moscow. Argentina, by contrast, have scored 12 and managed to keep their opponents scoreless three times in Qatar. ](https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/world-cup) ](https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/world-cup/300717080/fifa-world-cup-qatar-2022-full-match-schedule-and-results) Les Bleus are the defending champions after triumphing in Russia four years ago. ](https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/world-cup/300765829/defending-champions-france-end-moroccos-fairytale-run-to-reach-world-cup-final)

France beat Morocco to set up a final potentially for the ages against Argentina as Kylian Mbappe meets Lionel Messi.

He would be only the second after Pozzo to win it twice. He was a scorer when France beat Croatia 4-2 in Moscow in 2018 and has the power to add to his tally now and in the future. And so the World Cup comes down to this. It could even come down to one moment of genius from the two players most likely to provide it. Anything else would feel despairing and hollow for the great sporting icon of his country. This is now or never after he lost the 2014 final to Germany. The French had plenty of composure about them here, despite Morocco exerting spells of pressure. France v Argentina. Deschamps is only the fourth coach to lead a nation to back-to-back World Cup finals after Vittorio Pozzo with Italy in 1934 and 1938, Carlos Bilardo with Argentina in 1986 and 1990 and Franz Beckenbauer with Germany in 1986 and 1990. It opens up remarkable possibilities for the France forward. It is Messi's final World Cup game and Sunday is the day that could top it all, providing the perfect end to his story with Argentina. He is at the end of a career in which he has won everything the game has to offer - except for that single, significant gap in his honours collection: the biggest of all, the World Cup.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup third-place play-off is nearly here – here's when kick-off is, and how you can watch it.

As in the UK, coverage of the World Cup 2022 is entirely free to air. Conor Pope is the Online Editor of FourFourTwo, overseeing all digital content, and joined the team in February 2019. Is there a World Cup 2022 third-place play-off? [TechRadar](https://www.techradar.com/uk) (opens in new tab) love its super speedy connections, trustworthy security and the fact it works with Android, Apple, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, PS4 and loads more. Paid provider Sky Sports are the World Cup 2022 rights holders in New Zealand. You'll be blocked from watching it, which is not ideal if you’ve paid up for a subscription and still want to catch the action without resorting to illegal feeds you’ve found on Reddit. A VPN creates a private connection between your device and t'internet, meaning the service can’t work out where you are and won't automatically block the service you've paid for. You will receive a verification email shortly. You can also watch the games on Peacock TV with Spanish commentary. There is also a 7-day free trial. Go get it! Games are on Fox or FS1 cable channels.

These five players could decide the outcome of the 2022 World Cup Final between Argentina and France.

[surpass Germany’s Lothar Matthäus for the most appearances in World Cup history](https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/sports/world-cup-2022/lionel-messi-to-tie-record-for-most-career-world-cup-matches-in-2022-semifinal) with 26. Watch Griezmann in action, and you see a player who should be right up there in the Golden Ball conversation. The 36-year-old AC Milan center-forward scored twice in a 4-1 win over Australia in the opener and has added another two goals in the knockout stage. With his [penalty kick score versus Croatia](https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/sports/world-cup-2022/lionel-messi-julian-alvarez-give-argentina-2-0-lead-vs-croatia), Messi became Argentina’s all-time scoring leader at the World Cup with 11 goals. So, will Mbappe, who’s now up to five goals and two assists, repeat history and score in the World Cup Final just like he did in 2018? Does he have another masterclass in store against Argentina? [fended off Morocco 2-0](https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/sports/world-cup-2022/france-beats-morocco-2-0-advances-to-world-cup-final-vs-argentina) in the semifinals to keep its title defense alive. The 22-year-old Manchester City forward didn’t even crack the starting XI in Argentina’s first two matches. Messi could leave Qatar with additional hardware beyond the World Cup trophy. Messi will be the center of attention in the final. Next, they’ll [try to become the first repeat winner](https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/sports/world-cup-2022/frances-history-in-the-world-cup-final-as-team-seeks-rare-repeat/) since Brazil all the way back in 1962. But in what will be the final World Cup match of his legendary career, Messi has the chance to make a major addition to his loaded resume.