Les Bleus on the threshold of reliving a World Cup dream after dispatching Morocco in quarterfinals
FOXBOROUGH — Nobody thought they’d ever win it until they won it in 1998. Even playing at home, the challenge France’s soccer team faced, L’Équipe’s headline said, was like climbing “Everest in espadrilles.”
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So when Les Bleus blanked defending champion Brazil to hoist the World Cup for the first time they thought it was “Pour L’Éternité.” Once you’d reached the summit in straw shoes did you have to scale it again?
Across the decades the French have been whipsawed between le rêve (the dream) and le cauchemar (the nightmare) when it comes to la Coupe du Monde.
They’ve lived the dream twice now, winning again in 2018. They’ve been jarred awake by the nightmare twice, too, losing the final to Italy in 2006 and Argentina in 2022, both times in penalty shootouts.
Now the dream is within reach again after France smothered Morocco, 2-0, in Thursday afternoon’s quarterfinal to advance to next week’s semifinal.
“It’s confirmation for us of what we have displayed so far,” said coach Didier Deschamps, whose squad will face Friday’s Spain-Belgium victor.
The French, who beat the Atlas Lions by the same score four years ago in the semifinals, knew that they’d have to sweat again for this one.
After their earlier dismissals of Senegal, Iraq, Norway and Sweden, when they were scoring goals in triplicate, Les Bleus had to go 70 minutes with Paraguay in the round of 16 before Kylian Mbappé scored on a penalty.
They knew Morocco would be at least as tough a nut to crack. In the knockout rounds four years ago, the Atlas Lions eliminated Spain (in a shootout) and Portugal with keeper Yassine Bounou posting a pair of clean sheets.
This time, they drew with Brazil in their group opener, and expelled the Dutch in a shootout. But with star striker Ismael Saibari sidelined with a hamstring injury, the Moroccans essentially were performing on one leg against France. “We left them no chance to be dangerous to us,” Deschamps said.
Yet Les Bleus still had to score and when Bounou blocked Mbappé’s penalty bid in the 28th minute, the gasp could be heard from Calais to Casablanca.
The Atlas Lions managed to hang in for an hour until France deftly cracked them like a clay couscous pot with two goals in a half dozen minutes.
The first came from Mbappé, who saw an opening no longer than a baguette between a defender and the right post and hammered the ball through it in the 60th.
Then he fed fleet sidekick Ousmane Dembélé, who went with authority to the far corner in the 66th and France was through to the final four.
“We have to recognize that it’s a great team.” said Moroccan coach Mohamed Ouahbi. “We have to accept this defeat.”
The expectation among their bleu-blanc-rouge countrymen is that France always will play in the final. In 1998, when Deschamps was captain, he said that winning the Cup would be a bonus. The Brazilians, who’d won four by then, felt otherwise and were devastated to lose.
Once the dream has been made real it no longer can remain a dream. Anything less than another trophy is a letdown. What Les Bleus have come to understand is that l’eternite means that the expectations are eternal as well.
When Brazil and Germany departed early from this tournament the question from their disillusioned and disgusted followers was the same. What the hell happened?
That would have been the reaction back home had France fallen to Morocco. Matches against former colonies always are particularly stressful.
The French lost to newbie Senegal in their 2002 opener when they came in as reigning champions and went three-and-out after a loss to Denmark. “Who let the Frogs out?” tipsy Danish fans sang.
Last time France was shut out by Tunisia in their group finale, and Les Bleus had to work hard against Senegal in their opener this time. Beating Morocco was an absolute imperative.
Now that the French again are two victories from the Cup, it’s an occasion for the familiar Gallic inquietude. Spain edged them, 2-1, in the European semifinals two years ago and went on to win the championship. Argentina, of course, broke French hearts last time.
What if it’s England in the final and not Argentina? The French can’t imagine losing to a country that overcooks its roast beef.
And now that they’ve got a third trophy in sight, they can’t imagine losing at all. “The players understand that being on the team is a duty,” Deschamps said.
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