France players during a training session at Bentley University, in Massachusetts, US on Tuesday (as per BST) — Reuters NEW YORK, July 08 (Agencies): France's World Cup campaign has already tested their firepower, patience and nerves, but Friday's (2:00 am as per BST) quarter-final against Morocco will offer Didier Deschamps' side something different: their first full football examination of the tournament.
The meeting is a rematch of the 2022 World Cup semi-final, when France ended Morocco's historic run in Qatar, but this time the North Africans arrive not as surprise outsiders but as a confident, gifted side who have been open about their ambition to win the tournament.
France reached the last eight after a 1-0 win over Paraguay, a game that demanded character and patience more than fluency. Paraguay sat deep, slowed the rhythm and forced France to find a way through a packed defensive structure. Morocco had already shown their level in a demanding group, collecting seven points from matches against Brazil, Scotland and Haiti, and their performances have backed up their stated belief that they are not merely here to repeat the emotional charge of 2022.
France, by contrast, have yet to face a side with Morocco's blend of technical quality, athletic intensity and self-belief. Sweden were brushed aside in the last 32, while Paraguay provided resistance without posing the same footballing threat Morocco are likely to bring.
The quarter-final should offer the clearest indication yet of whether France's attacking quartet can continue to bend the tournament to their will against opponents capable of hurting them in transition and testing their defensive balance.
They will probably be without midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, who has been suffering from a muscle injury, while Morocco are expected to be without key striker Ismael Saibari.
Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and Bradley Barcola have given France one of the most dangerous forward lines at the World Cup, but Morocco's organisation and confidence should provide a more complete measure of the team behind the big names.
Meanwhile, the World Cup is down to just eight teams, with a heavyweight line-up set to do battle in the quarter-finals from Friday (as per BST).
the World Cup is down to just eight teams, with a heavyweight line-up set to do battle in the quarter-finals from Friday (as per BST).
In beating Portugal 1-0 on Monday, Spain became the first team in tournament history to record six consecutive World Cup clean sheets. Luis de la Fuente's European champions do not always set pulses racing but they are strikingly efficient and comfortable on the ball. England's defenders are used to facing Norway hotshot Erling Haaland in the Premier League -- but whether they can handle him is another story.
Thomas Tuchel's men arrived in the United States among the favourites to win the tournament for just the second time in their hitory.
Lionel Messi's Argentina have come through two almighty scares to set up a quarter-final against Switzerland.
The defending champions were taken to extra-time by World Cup debutants Cape Verde before prevailing 3-2.
Then in the last 16 they looked down and out when trailing 2-0 against Egypt before an astonishing comeback, with Messi at the centre of the action.
Head coach Lionel Scaloni will know his team cannot keep testing fate as they chase a fourth World Cup crown, but they have shown they can never be counted out.
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