Little by little, France and Morocco are slowly building up a rivalry between their two senior soccer teams. For the North Africans, France is the European team they have faced the most (along with Bulgaria). All but two of those meetings were friendlies, but in tonight’s clash in Boston - like the previous one four years ago, much more is on the line.

After five friendlies in 20 years, France and Morocco have come face to face in consecutive editions of the World Cup. This evening in Boston, they will face off for a place in the semi-final. Four years ago in Qatar, Mbappé and Co. denied the Atlas Lions a place in the final.

France have the edge over Morocco in the six games that make up the head-to-head figures. Les Bleus have won four, Morocco just one and another ended level.

Friendlies against the world champions

The first meeting was in the inaugural Tournoi de France - a four-team international friendly competition staged in Toulouse and Monaco. France and Morocco met for the first time in the final at Stade Louis-II on February 5, 1988. The hosts were ahead on nine minutes when Dominique Bijotat’s back-post header struck Abdelmajid Lamriss and crossed the line. Lamriss made amends by rifling in the equalizer on the half hour. Yannick Stopyra nodded in the winner on 49 minutes to hand France the trophy.

A decade would pass before the next meeting - at the second Tournoi Hassan II held in Casablanca. Among the France XI that took to the pitch at Stade Mohammed V were current coach Didier Deschamps, Zidane, Robert Pires, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and David Trezeguet... the same team that would be crowned world champions just a few weeks later.

The visitors had to come from behind twice with Laurent Blanc then Youri Djorkaeff canceling out strikes from Salaheddine Bassir. It ended 2-2 and was decided from the penalty spot. It went down to the wire - Djorkaeff and Candela missed as Morocco won the shootout 8-7.

A few months later the two teams faced off again in Marseille. A Djorkaeff tap-in settled the third meeting - the second of three against the world champions.

In January 2000, France and Morocco would contest the Hasan II trophy for the second and final time. It ended with a 1-5 victory for France, with goals from Henry, Djorkaeff, Dugarry, Anelka and Wiltord. Deportivo’s Noureddine Naybet pulled one back for Morocco.

The last friendly, held in Paris in November 2007 ended in a 2-2 draw. This would be the last time the two nations would meet in unofficial competition.

Level up at the World Cup knockout stage

At Qatar 2022, both teams arrived at the semi-finals. France after eliminating Poland and England, Morocco having beaten Switzerland and Portugal. France were leading after just five minutes when Theo Hernández connecting with a difficult, bouncing ball to volley in the opener. Substitute Randal Kolo Muani doubled the lead with a tap-in to resolve a hard-fought game in which Morocco were weakened by injuries to both of their center-backs.

They meet again today in Boston, the latest encounter in this growing rivalry. It promises to be another closely-fought contest...

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