Morocco against France .. a battle to break the deadlock and continue the World Cup dream.
The Moroccan national football team is preparing for its seventh encounter in history against its French counterpart, when the two teams meet next Thursday evening in the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup, in a match that recalls the last clash between the two sides in the semi-finals of the "Qatar 2022" World Cup, which smiled upon the "Roosters" with a score of two goals to none.
The upcoming match holds special significance for the "Atlas Lions," who aspire to surpass the French team for the first time and reach the semi-finals of the World Cup for the second consecutive time, after they continued to shine in the current edition of the tournament.
The two teams have previously faced each other in only six matches, according to the record of direct encounters, during which the French team achieved three victories, compared to one win for the Moroccan team on penalties, while two matches ended in a draw.
The first encounter between the two teams dates back to February 5, 1988, when France won by two goals to one in a friendly match held at the Louis II Stadium in Monaco, before they met again on May 29, 1998, in Casablanca, where the match ended in a draw (2-2), before the Moroccan team decided it on penalties (8-7), in a friendly match that was part of the Hassan II International Tournament.
The French team regained its superiority in the third encounter, winning one goal to none in January 1999 at the Vélodrome Stadium in Marseille, before achieving the largest victory in the history of encounters between the two teams with a score of five goals to one in June 2000 in the Hassan II Cup at the Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca.
The two teams waited until 2007 to renew their meeting at the "Stade de France" in Paris, where the friendly match ended in a positive draw (2-2), in an exciting match that witnessed a large audience, before they met again 15 years later in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when the French team secured a spot in the final with a victory of two goals to none.