Europe 1 with AFP 10:45 p.m., December 10, 2022

The poster between France and Morocco, Wednesday in the semi-finals of the World Cup (live in "Europe 1 Sport"), will be a first in a major competition, the two teams having had very little opportunity to compete beforehand and only in a friendly match.

Winners respectively of England and Portugal in the quarter-finals, France and Morocco will be opposed for the first time in the World Cup.

There have been only five confrontations in the whole history between the Blues and the Atlas Lions, never in official competition, with a favorable balance sheet for the tricolor selection: three victories, a draw and another won by Morocco on penalties.

The first meeting was held on February 5, 1988 at the Louis-II stadium in Monaco, chosen to host the final of the friendly "Tournoi de France".

The French led by Henri Michel, not qualified for Euro-1988, won 2-1 thanks to a goal from Yannick Stopyra.

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Last duel in 2007

During the last duel, November 16, 2007 in Saint-Denis, Henri Michel is still on the bench, but that of Morocco this time.

In a full Stade de France, the Blues were joined 2-2 at the end of the match with a goal from Youssef Mokhtari.

Raymond Domenech takes advantage of this friendly match to see young people like Karim Benzema and Samir Nasri, decisive passer and scorer, at work.

Between the two, the Blues travel to Casablanca as part of the Hassan-II tournament: they win the trophy in June 2000 (5-1) and, two years earlier, lose on penalties in May 1998 (2 -2, 5-6 tab) just before becoming world champions.

In a famous sequence from the documentary "Eyes in the Blues", coach Aimé Jacquet teases Zinédine Zidane, who "couldn't help himself" from making "gri-gris", carried away by "Zizou! Zizou! "

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The other friendly was held in January 1999 in Marseille, with the only goal of the game scored by Youri Djorkaeff.

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Known heads in France

After Tunisia during the group stage, the Blues find another Maghreb nation and several players born in France, such as captain Romain Saïss and Angers winger Sofiane Boufal, a regular on Ligue 1 lawns.

One of the stars of the Atlas Lions, Achraf Hakimi, has been playing at Paris SG since 2021. He is the best friend at PSG of Kylian Mbappé, who visited him in Doha on his day off on Sunday.

But Hakimi has mostly Spanish roots, his country of birth.

In addition to Boufal, another Angevin fills the ranks of Morocco, the young midfielder Azzedine Ounahi, 22, one of the revelations of the tournament.

Defender Achraf Dari plays for his side in Brest, while Zakaria Aboukhlal plays for Toulouse FC.

Nayef Aguerd, pillar of the defense injured against Spain but still in Qatar, delighted the supporters of Dijon then Rennes, before joining West Ham this summer.

At 47, the Franco-Moroccan coach Walid Regragui was born in the Paris region, in Corbeil-Essonnes, and has spent almost his entire professional career in France, in Toulouse, Ajaccio or Grenoble.

He replaced Vahid Halilhodzic, another well-known face in France, at short notice at the end of August.

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Iron defence, tide of supporters

Supported in Qatar by a tide of supporters, the Moroccan selection is the big surprise of this World Cup.

With the return of Hakim Ziyech, exiled from the selection under "Coach Vahid", the Moroccans multiplied their exploits, successively eliminating Spain, on penalties, then Portugal, 1-0.

First African team to reach the semi-finals at the World Cup, Morocco relies on a united defense, despite the physical glitches (Aguerd and Noussair Mazraoui withdrew for the quarter-finals), and a goalkeeper in a state of grace, Yassine Boon.

Regragui's men conceded only one goal in this competition, against Canada in the group stage (2-1 victory), and again they scored against their side, by Aguerd.

Winners 2-0 of Belgium, the Moroccans also held in check Croatia (0-0), vice-champion in title, to finish at the top of group F.

Against the Blues, Morocco will be deprived of its replacement striker Walid Cheddira, excluded on Saturday and suspended for the semi-final.