By Opta Analyst | Created at 2026-07-18 17:28:13 | Updated at 2026-08-03 07:03:16
3 weeks ago
Morocco will be looking to avenge their semi-final defeat to France in 2022 when they meet in the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals on Thursday.
France vs Morocco: The Key Insights
- France are strong favourites to win, given a win probability of 62.2% by the Opta supercomputer.
- Only twice has an African team gone unbeaten in their opening five games of a FIFA World Cup, Morocco on both occasions (2022 and 2026).
- This will be Didier Deschamps’ 25th game as a manager at the FIFA World Cup, equalling the record total of Helmut Schön (25 between 1966 and 1978).
France will be aiming to reach a third consecutive FIFA World Cup semi-final when they take on Morocco at Boston Stadium on Thursday.
Les Bleus lifted the trophy in 2018 and were runners-up in 2022, going down to Lionel Messi‘s Argentina after overcoming Morocco in the semi-finals.
Should France advance, they will become only the third nation to reach the last four in three successive tournaments, joining Germany (4 from 2002-2014 and 3 from 1982-1990) and Brazil (3 from 1994-2002).
Didier Deschamps’ side were made uncomfortable for the first time in North America in their fractious last-16 clash with Paraguay.
Although Paraguay did not receive a single booking, the match was ill-tempered, and the South American side attempted to provoke their opponents and throw them off their game. However, France eventually secured a 1-0 victory thanks to Kylian Mbappé‘s 70th-minute penalty.
The spot-kick took Mbappé onto seven goals for the tournament – level with Erling Haaland and one behind Messi in what is set to be a captivating race for the Golden Boot with Argentina and Norway also in the quarter-finals.
Mbappé has also made two assists and created 12 chances for France at this World Cup, with only Michael Olise (9) providing more than his eight defensive line-breaking passes for Les Bleus.
The pair have been central to France’s powerful attack, with Olise becoming the first player to complete 10+ dribbles (11), create 10+ chances in open play (10) and make 10+ through balls (11) in his debut World Cup since Brazil’s Zico in 1978.
With Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé also impressing, France are on a seven-game winning streak in competitive matches and have been victorious in 11 of their past 12 (D1). The last time they won eight straight was between September 2002 and June 2004 (a run of 14).
It will be tough for Morocco to stop France from achieving that, particularly if they are without Ismael Saibari.
Saibari scored in all their group games but was forced off in the first half of the 3-0 victory over Canada in the last 16 with a thigh injury, making him a doubt for the clash with France.
Should the new Bayern Munich signing be deemed unfit, the Atlas Lions will need the likes of Brahim Díaz and Achraf Hakimi to continue their fine attacking form.
Since the start of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, Díaz has been directly involved in more goals than any other Morocco player across all competitions (6 goals, 4 assists).
Across the last two World Cups, Hakimi has created more chances than any other defender (21). His 15 chances created at this year’s competition are the most by an African defender in a single edition on record (since 1966).
Mohamed Ouahbi’s only other injury concern for the match is Chadi Riad, who sat out the game against Canada with a knee injury sustained in the last-32 victory over the Netherlands.
Manu Koné may continue in midfield for France if Aurélien Tchouaméni does not recover from the groin injury that kept him out against Paraguay, while William Saliba struggled through that match with a back injury.
Deschamps will hope Saliba is fit enough to start again as France look to advance to a semi-final against Spain or Belgium.
France vs Morocco Head-to-Head
The semi-final meeting in Qatar was the first competitive meeting between France and Morocco. On that occasion, goals from Théo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani ended the Atlas Lions’ incredible run.
There have been five other meetings between the teams, but none of them have ended in a defeat for France. They have won three times and drawn the two other contests.
France still have reason to be wary, though. Half of their World Cup defeats this century have been inflicted by African teams (3/6, excluding shootouts). They have lost more times in seven games against African sides (3) in this period than they have against both European (2/15) and South American opponents (0/9) combined (2 defeats in 24 matches).
France vs Morocco Prediction
A France victory is comfortably the most likely outcome according to the Opta supercomputer’s 25,000 pre-match simulations.
Deschamps’ men got the job done in 62.2% of the projections, while Morocco managed to pull off an upset and knock out France in 90 minutes in 15.7% of them.
There is also a 22.1% chance of the teams playing out a draw, meaning extra-time and potentially penalties would be required to separate them.
France vs Morocco Squads
France: Brice Samba, Mike Maignan, Robin Risser, Malo Gusto, Lucas Digne, Dayot Upamecano, Jules Koundé, Ibrahima Konaté, William Saliba, Théo Hernández, Lucas Hernández, Maxence Lacroix, Manu Koné, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Michael Olise, N’Golo Kanté, Adrien Rabiot, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Rayan Cherki, Maghnes Akliouche, Ousmane Dembélé, Marcus Thuram, Kylian Mbappé, Bradley Barcola, Désiré Doué, Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Morocco: Yassine Bounou, Munir El Kajoui, Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti, Achraf Hakimi, Noussair Mazraoui, Marwane Saadane, Zakaria El Ouahdi, Issa Diop, Chadi Riad, Youssef Belammari, Redouane Halhal, Anass Salah-Eddine, Sofyan Amrabat, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Azzedine Ounahi, Brahim Díaz, Ismael Saibari, Samir El Mourabet, Bilal El Khannouss, Neil El Aynaoui, Chemsdine Talbi, Soufiane Rahimi, Gessime Yassine, Amine Sbaï, Ayoub El Kaabi, Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab.
France vs Morocco Predicted Lineups
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