December 11, 2022, 08:45 PM
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After a thrilling quarter-final concluding with France's victory over rival nation England, we're down to the final four contenders for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
From Europe, defending champions France and 2018 runner-up Croatia will move on to the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi's Argentina will represent South America, and Morocco will advance as Africa's first-ever World Cup semi-finalists.
The final four 🇫🇷 ðŸ‡ðŸ‡· 🇦🇷 🇲🇦 #FIFAWorldCup #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/yRHBh6C7ZM
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 11, 2022
Here's how the teams will square off.
France v Morocco
This'll be an exciting one. With Brazil out of the running, France are undoubtedly the new favourites for this year's tournament.
But Morocco has proven equally untouchable. After knocking Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal out of the tournament, the team made history, by being the first African nation and country with Arabic heritage to advance to the semi-finals of a World Cup tournament.
Despite their fairytale run so far (Morocco has yet to concede a goal scored by an opponent, with the only goal conceded being an own goal in the match against Canada), the team has been hit with a slew of injuries.
Defensive player Nayef Aguerd sustained an injury in their match against Spain, while centre-back and captain Romain Saiss was forced off due to a hamstring problem in the second half of the Portugal match.
Still, it's anyone's guess if France will triumph over the underdogs and defend their crown.
France will take on Morocco on Dec. 15 at 3:00am (Singapore time).
Argentina v Croatia
After a shocking loss to Saudi Arabia in their first World Cup game, Argentina seems to have recovered somewhat.
The team managed to clinch a spot in the semifinals after defeating the Netherlands in a dramatic 4-3 penalty shootout.
The upcoming game has high stakes for 35-year-old Argentinian talisman Lionel Messi, who previously admitted that this year's tournament would be "most likely my last World Cup".
Croatia is no pushover, however. The team is one of the most experienced around, and emerged as the runner-ups in the 2018 final, where they lost 4-2 to France.
Croatia also knocked out powerhouses Brazil in the quarter-finals on penalties.
Argentina and Croatia will face off on Dec. 14, 3:00am (Singapore time).
Top image via FIFA World Cup/Twitter.
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