Preview: France and Morocco face off in giant quarter-final clash in Boston

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FromTheSpot

9 July 2026

Two of the most exciting sides at this year’s tournament,

France

and

Morocco

have both made their way to the quarter-final where they will face off in Boston.

Didier Deschamps’

headed to North America as one of the favourites to lift the

World Cup

trophy for the third time, and they have so far not disappointed.

After making light work of possibly the toughest group at the tournament,

breezed past a Sweden side that couldn’t cope with their unparalleled attack containing the likes of Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembélé, Bradley Barcola and, of course,

Kylian Mbappé

We then saw a different side of

in their next game against Paraguay, who had already taken a massive scalp by beating Germany on penalties. Paraguay looked to deploy the same rough and conservative approach to this one.

It almost worked, but

showed their own streetwise style and aggressiveness to battle back against Paraguay. They may have gotten slightly fortunate by virtue of a Kylian Mbappe penalty, but they showed the guts to get the job done.

Their opponents have arguably shown more grit and guts than any other side over the last four years.

have been the premier side in Africa and are eyeing a second successive semi-final at the

Led by manager Mohamed Ouhabi, the Atlas Lions have made it five consecutive games unbeaten at a

for the second successive time and are now comfortably inside the top 10 world rankings.

Their campaign kicked off against Brazil, where the African side would count themselves unlucky not to come away with all three points. A dominant first half yielded just one goal from Ismael Saibari, which was cancelled out by a smart strike from star winger Vinicius Junior.

They then bested Scotland in Boston in what was a fairly turgid affair, which was decided by a goal inside the first 70 seconds from Saibari, they ended their group stage with a victory over Haiti in what was an enthralling 4-2 victory.

Morocco then faced the Netherlands in the round of 32, where a late goal from Issa Diop levelled the tie after an early Cody Gakpo goal.

When both teams couldn’t be separated after 120 minutes, the game went to penalties, where

were victorious thanks to missed penalties from Justin Kluivert, Crycensio Summerville and Quinten Timber.

Following a dramatic victory which signalled that

were yet again serious challengers, they comfortably defeated one of the hosts in Canada, which has led them to this huge match-up with

After yet another incredible tournament,

captain Kylian Mbappe is just one goal behind Lionel Messi in the all-time

goal-scorer chart with 19 goals. A remarkable feat that has came in just 19

games compared to Messi’s 31

games.

The only injury issue for Deschamps is in the middle of the park, where

Real Madrid

man Aurelien Tchouaméni has missed the last two games with a thigh injury.

His replacement Koauadio Koné hasn’t yet set the world alight and has at times left Adrian Rabiot a bit isolated in the midfield. Tchouameni could be fit for this one, but Deschamps is keeping his cards close to his chest.

As for

, their injury worry is much more severe. Top scorer at these finals, Ismael Saibari, was withdrawn against Canada due to a hamstring injury. Saibari managed just half an hour before he was taken off in what could be a seismic blow for Ouahbi’s side.

Soufiane Rahmi was deputised for Saibari in their victory over

, but he most likely won’t have the desired impact that Saibari has been having so far.

There is positive news for

however, as Chiadi Riad is returning from injury and could be fit enough to start in what would complete Morocco’s strongest back line. Riad replaced fellow centre-half Redouane Halhal in their victory over Canada.

France and

have only met twice before this, with the last being the

semi-final in Qatar, where

won 2-0. They also met in 2007, with that game ending in a 2-2 draw.

Thursday’s game could be the perfect chance for

to get their revenge and blow the fight for the

wide open, or it could provide the chance for

to once again show the World just how good and unstoppable they are.

France’s quarter final meeting with

kicks off at 21:00 (BST) in Boston, with live coverage on BBC One, ITV, ITVX, and STV Player.

For more detailed reports, reaction, and analysis of the

as it happens, head to

our website

and favourite our page on OneFootball.

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