Who will France play against in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup?
France secured a semi-final berth after a hard-fought 2-1 over England and will now face surprise package Morocco at Al Bayt Stadium.
Reigning World Cup holders France are still on track to repeat the heroics of 2018 as they scraped past the Three Lions 2-1 at Al Bayt Stadium on Saturday, with Giroud’s deflected header ultimately the difference.
Aurelien Tchouameni had fired the world champions ahead, but England responded strongly and levelled through a Harry Kane penalty.
Gareth Southgate’s side might have equalised a second time following Giroud’s goal, only for Kane to fire a second spot-kick over the crossbar.
Victory sends France through to a semi-final against surprise package Morocco, with Didier Deschamps’ side looking like favourites to retain their crown.
But this tie showed how hard it is to win the World Cup, with Giroud reminded of a 1-0 defeat of Belgium in Russia.
“The match tonight reminded of the match against Belgium in 2018,” Giroud told a news conference. “We fought tooth and nail.
“They came back into the match, started to believe, but we showed we could be dangerous on the counter-attack.
Morocco await
Earlier in the evening, the Atlas Lions delivered yet another surprise at the 2022 World Cup as they eliminated Portugal with a 1-0 win. The goal coming from Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri with the header enough to see Morocco become the first ever African nation to secure a place in the World Cup.
Both sides go head-to-head on Wednesday night at the 60,000 capacity Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor with Argentina meeting Croatia the previous evening.