MOROCCO'S World Cup run in Qatar is a historic moment in African football, with the Atlas Lions becoming the first team from the continent to reach the semifinals.
With victories against Belgium, Spain, and Portugal — teams stuffed with elite level players — Morocco comes into the final four with momentum on their backs.
It wouldn’t be an easy task, though, as they’ll be facing France, the defending World Cup winners.
Yet their wins over their rivals prove that manager Walid Regragui’s defensive foundation isn’t one that can easily break down.
Dissecting Morocco’s defensive structure
Against the likes of Spain and Portugal, Morocco utilized a 4-4-2 defensive shape which can shift to a 4-5-1 with the purpose of limiting the opposition’s progression to the central areas. They’re also not the sort of team that loves to press high.


And in case either of the European squads would try to move the ball forward, they would be greeted with this.



It became a recurring cycle: Spain and Portugal would move the ball to the left flank, only for them to be bombarded. Try progressing the ball to the center? They would be denied by the midblock. Move it to the right? Same outcome.
This sort of philosophy is reminiscent of Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid, which according to Regragui, was his source of inspiration.
But while Morocco’s defensive gameplan deserves a lot of credit, other factors worked to their advantage.
Where it all failed for Spain and Portugal
By looking at the numbers, there’s no denying that Spain and Portugal have dominated Morocco in controlling the ball.
Fbref.com notes that both countries had an average of 75 percent possession and an average of 86 percent in terms of passing accuracy.
However, history has proven that dominating possession doesn’t always translate to wins. Just look at how Jose Mourinho’s treble-winning Inter Milan squad managed to beat the heavily favored Barcelona squad despite the latter’s ball dominance.
And history has once again proved a point with how La Roja and Os Navegadores played against the Atlas Lions.
While watching Spain’s battle against Morocco, I noticed one major flaw from the European side: their lack of penetration upfront.
Would you consider Marco Asensio as a breakthrough false nine? Comparing him with other false nines like Lionel Messi, Karim Benzema, and Roberto Firmino, Asensio lacks the former’s defense-shattering control of the ball, as well as the latter two’s all-around positional skillset.
And if we size up Alvaro Morata against other centre-forwards like Fernando Torres or Olivier Giroud, you wouldn’t consider Morata as a game-changing performer.
In the end, Spain passed the ball... with little else to show for it.
Meanwhile, Portugal was plagued by Fernando Santos’ poor decisions. I feel he should’ve chosen Rafael Leao at the beginning. Since Joao Felix tried to overload the central and half-spaces, attracting defenders, Leao’s pace on the left flank could've made an impact from the first half onwards.
This also would’ve benefitted Bruno Fernandes’ risky, yet calculated, forward passes.
With Morocco benefiting from the weaknesses of these two teams, it would be interesting to see how they’ll fare against Les Bleus.
Does France have the tools to shatter Morocco’s defense?
France doesn’t seem to have any gaping loopholes that can be easily dissected. They are a well-coached team, blessed with world class talent, and they offer more penetration upfront.
The fact that they were able to eliminate England — even though Gareth Southgate played the correct cards — should pose a threat to the Atlas Lions.
But can their talent punch through Morocco’s wall? Looking at how Morocco defended the wide areas, I can see a potential weakness that France can exploit.
Antoine Griezmann has proven to be an elite-level attacking midfielder for France in the World Cup. His movements around the pitch have been vital for the blue shirts. But France doesn’t just rely on him — as Olivier Giroud could also be called upon as he can drop deep when needed, and Adrien Rabiot is also capable of traversing around the pitch to support the buildup.
Imagine all of these players overloading the central areas or one of the flanks. This would attract the defense, giving Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele space on the wide areas.
Portugal took a stab at this when Santos inserted Rafael Leao and Cristiano Ronaldo. With Ronaldo and Felix tugging inside the half spaces and the central areas, Leao had momentum to attack the left flank.
Then there were instances when Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes would stay inside from the right, allowing Diogo Dalot space to attack on that side.

But it’s not only the flanks where France can shine, as they already have one of the most lethal aerial threats in Olivier Giroud. If France are struggling to break down Morocco’s defense, they could try what Croatia did against Japan in the second half: pump long balls inside the penalty area, which ultimately led to Ivan Perisic’s crucial header.
The battle between France and Morocco is definitely a tale of two opposing footballing philosophies, with the former being on the offensive and the latter on the conservative side.
Questions loom over the upcoming faceoff.
Can Achraf Hakimi hold his ground against his Paris Saint-Germain teammate, Kylian Mbappe? Will Morocco make a tactical switch to a back three, where they can utilize their wingbacks given the threat level of Mbappe and Dembele?
Is Aurelien Tchouameni the man for the occasion given how integral he’ll be in disrupting Morocco’s counterattacks or is he ready to carry the burden in France’s midfield amid some weaknesses with how he carries the ball.
And is Morocco the new Cinderella team that could eclipse the likes of 2004 Greece? Will France be the first back-to-back World Cup winners since Brazil in 1958 and 1962?
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