France and Morocco will be setting further records should either of them progress to the semi-finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Mexico, and Canada.
Morocco are on a revenge mission against Les Bleus that stopped their World Cup dream in the semi-final of the 2022 edition of the tournament.
The Atlas Lions now have an opportunity to reach another back-to-back semi-final of the World Cup when they meet in the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals on Thursday.
Heading into the clash, France are strong favourites to win, given the array of stars Didier Deschamps has at his disposal.
Morocco is the only African team that has gone unbeaten in their opening five games in the history of the competition, having reached the last four at the 2022 edition.
Deschamps will be at the touchline for his 25th game as a manager at the FIFA World Cup, equalling the record total of Helmut Schön (25 between 1966 and 1978), and France will be aiming to reach a third consecutive FIFA World Cup semi-final when they clash at Boston Stadium on Thursday.
Having emerged winners in 2018, Les Bleus, runners-up in 2022, 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).
France had to find a way from the penalty spot to move past stubborn Paraguay in the last 16, made them uncomfortable for the first time in North America in their fractious last-16 clash with Paraguay.
The spot-kick took Mbappé to seven goals for the tournament, one behind Lionel Messi, who missed a penalty before leveling the tie in their 3-2 comeback against Egypt in the last 16 tie.
As Mbappé and Erling Haaland are on the same number of goals, there will be a captivating race for the Golden Boot, with Argentina and Norway also in the quarter-finals.
Mbappé would be handy for the Moroccans who could want to stop him from having a scoring opportunity, as the Real Madrid star already has two assists and has created 12 chances for France at this World Cup so far.
They will also have to block the supply from Michael Olise, who has also provided nine defensive line-breaking passes for Les Bleus, making the pair central to France’s powerful attack.
As Morocco also has Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé to contend with, they will have to beat a France team that is on a seven-game winning streak in competitive matches and have won 11 of their past 12.
Morocco have a job on their hands to stop France from progressing, as they are particularly without Ismael Saibari, who has scored three goals in the tournament.
Saibari had to be substituted 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.
The Atlas Lions will also need the likes of Brahim Díaz and Achraf Hakimi to continue their fine attacking form to have any chance.
Diaz, who plies his trade with Real Madrid, has been directly involved in more goals than any other Moroccan player across all competitions since the start of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Hakimi, who has also created more chances than any other defender across the last two World Cups, has to keep producing more, as the 15 chances he created at this year’s competition are the most by an African defender in a single edition on record.
This is expected to be another tough duel, as the tiniest of margins may decide this one as well.
