Dramatic and emotional scenes as France return to the final
In the brutal world of knockout football, it's impossible for both teams to come out of a match as winners.
All the same, Wednesday's Qatar 2022 semi-final at Al Bayt Stadium came as close as can be imagined to that elusive outcome, with Morocco emerging with the admiration of a watching world and France achieving their objective of a place in the final.
With emotions running high on both sides, there was plenty of passion to capture as FIFA+ bore witness to another night of the beautiful game at its dramatic best. See how it all unfolded via our wonderful collection of videos.
Morocco's supporters have been among the most vocal on show at this tournament, and the decibel levels were raised yet further for the first FIFA World Cup™ semi-final of the country's history. French fans did their best to make their voices heard amid the din.
Injuring one of his team's own fans with a wayward shot in the warm-up was not how Kylian Mbappe would have wanted to start this momentous evening of football. Credit to the young Frenchman, however, for making a quick dash to attempt to apologise to the dazed supporter in question.
France weren't at their best in this match - far from it. But Les Bleus still managed to top up their impressive Qatar 2022 goal tally to 13, taking them level with England as the tournament's highest scorers.
Didier Deschamps had earned this moment of joy too, having made some crucial substitutions - particularly the introduction of Marcus Thuram - at a time when his side were struggling badly. Kudos, coach.
There was huge disappointment on the Moroccan side but Walid Regragui and his injury-hit side earned yet more credit for this courageous performance. No wonder their fans stayed to salute them.
'No pain, no gain', they say and, while France undoubtedly suffered at Al Bayt Stadium, they emerged with a place in the match that every footballer on the planet wants to play in. The celebrations reflected this momentous achievement.
Just as Morocco's players have earned new admirers at this World Cup, so too have the team's fans. Regragui made a point of acknowledging their wonderful, deafening support.
One of these PSG team-mates and firm friends was always going to be left heartbroken tonight. But despite Achraf Hakimi and Mbappe having fought out a tough, physical personal duel during the match, there was only respect and affection as the pair came together at the end.
Although Morocco's dream of winning the World Cup may be over, their Qatar 2022 campaign is not. Regragui has the job of picking up his bruised and battered squad for a third-place play-off against Croatia, and he wasted no time in setting about that task.
For the victors, meanwhile, it's onwards to a second successive World Cup final. There has been plenty of excitement in their previous three.
A mouth-watering decider now lies in store. If it's anything like France and Argentina's incredible meeting at the last World Cup, we're all in for a real treat.
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