​FOXBOROUGH, Mass. AP — Didier Deschamps, the France head coach, spent the majority of his World Cup news conference on Wednesday addressing a wide range of off-field topics, from racist comments directed at France star Kylian Mbappé to concerns about officiating and even questions about his own future with the team. In parallel, French authorities are preparing for potential unrest ahead of Thursday’s quarterfinal against Morocco. Police forces across the country are expected to be stretched thin, with several thousand officers deployed after the 2022 World Cup semifinal between Morocco and France produced more than 250 arrests, many of them in Paris.
Even without those security worries, the France-Morocco pairing stands out as perhaps the most compelling of the four quarterfinals. France eliminated Morocco 2-0 in the 2018 World Cup semifinals in Qatar, and another win this time would keep France on track toward becoming only the third nation to reach the final of three consecutive World Cups, joining Germany and Brazil. Morocco, for its part, became the first African team to reach a World Cup semifinal in 2022.
“We met them four years ago in the semifinal. They also played in the African final. They are a really great, excellent team with top-notch individuals. They’re not here to play. They’re there to win,” Deschamps said. “They like to attack to score goals. We have to be ready.”
Morocco coach Walid Regragui — the Atlas Lions’ manager in the wake of the 2022 tournament — emphasized that his squad isn’t satisfied just by getting back to this stage. “I don’t like this feeling where we can say what we’ve done up until now is great and rest is a bonus,” Regragui said. “No, the only bonus is to win the World Cup.”
Midfielder Brahim Diaz described Morocco’s 3-0 victory over Canada in the Round of 16 as a reflection of the approach the team must maintain. “This is our mentality,” Diaz said. “We want to keep going. … Everybody wants to play in this type of game.”
For France, one of the key players could be kept on a tighter leash on Thursday. France’s appeal of midfielder Michael Olise’s yellow card from their 1-0 Round of 16 win over Paraguay was denied by FIFA on Wednesday. “We received FIFA’s decision this morning that the yellow card was maintained,” Deschamps noted.
Regragui added that Morocco will be without midfielder Ismael Saibari, who left the Canada match with a thigh injury. If Olise picks up another yellow card on Thursday, he would be suspended for the next match.
The controversy over Olise’s card stems from an incident in the 97th minute of the Paraguay clash, when Olise and Paraguay’s Matías Galarza collided after a skirmish. Galarza fell to the ground, and video replays showed Olise briefly grabbing Galarza’s jersey before he toppled. The subsequent appeal followed President Donald Trump’s call to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, urging that Balogun not be suspended for the United States’ clash with Belgium. The aim was to influence the governing body’s decision in a way that would better serve U.S. interests ahead of the game.