World Cup 2022: news and reaction after France reach final against Argentina – live | World Cup 2022

There can be a parallel between with Deschamps’ France and Pep Guardiola’s nice Barcelona sides. Guardiola mentioned he spent way more time desirous about what his staff with out the ball than with it. As you say, when you might have world-class attacking gamers you’ll be able to to a big extent belief them to do their factor – in case you get the defensive facet of issues appropriate. That after all contains defending from the entrance, snapping the staff again into form whenever you lose possession.

An instance can be Thierry Henry saying he’d by no means labored more durable than when he signed for Barcelona as a result of he was anticipated to do his defensive obligation, whereas at Arsenal he had been afforded the posh of wandering again at a leisurely tempo if an assault broke down.

“Agree with you that a lot of what’s being said about Deschamps is missing the mark,” emails Amar. “To understand Deschamps, you need to look at his formative influences. He was the captain of the first French team (Marseille) to win a Champions League trophy in 1993, and the captain of the first French team to win a World Cup in 1998. The architect of the Marseille win was Raymond “la Science” Goethals, whose insistence on tactical rigour, self-discipline and resilience helped them overcome a Milan facet that was Europe’s dominant footballing pressure.

“Arguably, similar qualities plus Zidane’s genius, helped Aimé Jacquet’s France side win in 1998. Jacquet, a humble, no-nonsense man, moreover, had dropped Cantona from the side, because of his perceived lack of tactical rigour. Cantona famously derided Deschamps as a “water carrier”. Well, the mentioned “water carrier” has it appears relentlessly utilized the teachings learnt in these early years. His power has been to alloy resilience and rigour to France’s seeming endless potential to supply massive numbers of world-class gamers, plus the X-factor varieties like Mbappé (now) and Zidane (again then).”

I loved this tweet from Ian King final night time, about how weaknesses in all the groups within the competitors emerge because it unfolds, after loads of pre-tournament hype.

Having mentioned that, as said, I don’t purchase the concept that France have been ‘lucky’ as many appear to counsel. Yes I suppose Kane lacking that pen was a stroke of luck, however who’s to say France wouldn’t have discovered a option to win anyway? I fancy they’d have finished.

John Brewin is right here with World Cup Football Daily, waiting for Argentina v France:

Tough instances for the sports activities minister in Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko, the president, has given his sports activities tsar a public dressing down for the truth that Belarus didn’t qualify for the World Cup.

They are in truth “nowhere near”, as Lukashenko says. (Belarus have been in Group E with Wales and completed backside, additionally beneath group winners Belgium, Czech Republic and Estonia).

If I used to be the sports activities minister I might need identified that the European champions Italy additionally didn’t qualify.

Alleged corruption news. MEPs vote to make Qatari officers personae non gratae in Brussels.

Here are some factoids from Reuters concerning the third-place playoff.

When: Saturday, December 17, 6pm native (3pm GMT)
Where: Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan
Odds (after 90 minutes)
Croatia win: 11/8
Morocco win: 2/1
Draw: 5/2

Key stats:

• Morocco turned the primary Arab and African nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals earlier than shedding 2-0 to France. Coach Walid Regragui additionally turned the primary Arab supervisor to guide a staff to the knockout rounds.

• The two sides had met of their opening Group F match and performed out a goalless draw.

• Croatia, runners-up in 2018, have performed a third-place playoff as soon as earlier than. In 1998 they beat Netherlands 2-1 to complete third in that World Cup.

• Morocco had not conceded a objective from an opposition participant on the match earlier than their semi-final defeat to defending world champions France.

• The ‘Atlas Lions’ are brief on defenders after shedding Romain Saiss, Nayef Aguerd and Noussair Mazraoui to harm of their semi-final defeat.

  Previous conferences: Croatia and Morocco have met twice earlier than, together with on this match’s group stage. Their solely earlier assembly previous to the World Cup was in 1996 within the semi-final of the King Hassan II International Cup. The match resulted in a 2-2 draw earlier than Croatia gained 7-6 on penalties.

Darryl has emailed, drawing consideration to Lionel Messi’s Saudi Arabia deal. Here’s a chunk on that from just a few months again:

Speaking of podcasts, I bear in mind listening to a (non-Guardian) podcast after France gained the Cup in 2018, when somebody (can’t bear in mind who) described Deschamps as ‘an analog coach in a digital world’. It appeared like a daft declare on the time. It sounds much more ludicrous now.

If you’re on the market and studying this, thriller podcaster, please do e-mail me to clarify your self.

If you missed it – the post-France v Morocco Football Daily podcast is true right here. Listen!

“A bizarre question,” emails somebody referred to as et okay. “Can you rank these World Cup performances, from the best to the … less best. Messi 2022, Mbappe 2018, Forlan 2010, Zidane 2006, Ronaldo fenomeno 2002, Baggio 94, Maradona 1986.”

No I can’t. Comparison is the thief of pleasure, and all that.

Actually I can’t resist one. Maradona 86 is clearly the most effective.

France did certainly endure a sticky spell in that first half against Poland. Piotr Zielinksi blasted that shot straight at Hugo Lloris as an alternative of selecting his spot and going for one of many corners. It would possibly have been completely different …

Courtesy of Reuters, here’s a have a look at France’s progress by means of the knockout rounds:

LAST 16: FRANCE 3-1 POLAND

After France went by means of a short tough patch, Giroud opened the scoring to develop into France’s all-time prime scorer on 52 targets – shifting one forward of Thierry Henry. Les Bleus sealed it when Mbappé netted a few screamers – thumping the primary shot below the bar earlier than firing the second into the far prime nook for his fourth and fifth objective of the match. Poland lowered the arrears with a stoppage-time Robert Lewandowski penalty.

QUARTER-FINAL: ENGLAND 1-2 FRANCE

France prevailed after a nerve-racking encounter. They went forward because of a 25-metre Aurélien Tchouaméni strike, however cracked early within the second half with Harry Kane changing a penalty after a Tchouaméni foul. Les Bleus seemed to be on the ropes at instances, however they soaked up the strain and made their expertise depend when Giroud’s header from Griezmann’s pin-point cross restored the benefit.

Kane had a golden probability to cancel it out with a late penalty, just for the striker’s effort to fly over the bar. “We got a bit lucky although we gave away two penalties. We kept our lead with our hearts and our guts,” mentioned Deschamps.

SEMI-FINAL: FRANCE 2-0 MOROCCO
France deserted possession early on, understanding too effectively that Morocco revelled in defending deep and seeking to damage their opponents on the break. They went forward on 5 minutes because of Theo Hernández’s high-hooked volley, forcing their opponents to take the initiative. Morocco performed boldly and would have deserved to stage earlier than the break.

But France defended with cool heads as Ubrahima Konaté proved unbeatable at centre-back regardless of being named within the beginning XI on the final minute following Dayot Upamecano’s sickness. Giroud may even have scored earlier than the break however he hit the publish within the seventeenth minute. It was throughout within the 79th minute, nevertheless, when Randal Kolo Muani beat Yassine Bounou from shut vary after some nice Mbappé work within the field, solely 44 seconds after approaching as an alternative. France will play Argentina, who’re additionally seeking to win the World Cup for the third time, in Sunday’s final on the Lusail Stadium.

Kylian Mbappé’s tweet from final night time is rocketing in the direction of a million likes.

Impressive social media reach.

Feel free to e-mail me or contact me by way of Twitter with any World Cup musings.

Thanks Tom and howdy everybody.

My opening gambit almost about final night time’s recreation, and to France’s progress to the final, is as follows: The factor that actually impresses me concerning the staff below Deschamps is their self-discipline in conserving a inflexible form when out of possession. You can see how a lot work they put into this, and the result’s that even when they’re below strain, they very not often if ever get fully pulled out of place.

As a consequence, there may be arguably nothing ‘lucky’ concerning the reality a defender at all times appears to be readily available to dam a shot or make a clearance. It all stems from the defensive form. Yes, they’ve finished a good bit of ‘last-ditch’ defending, however their assault is clearly so potent they’re normally able to absorbing loads of strain and then inflicting harm on the counter.

Right, I’m off for a break, and will depart you within the succesful arms of Luke McLaughlin for some time. Catch you’se later.

I’m minded to declare all GOAT correspondence closed, however You Lot Out There have made a few respectable factors. First up, Kari Tulinius on the bias in the direction of attacking gamers in all such discussions:

“The debate about who’s the greatest footballer of all time is dominated by the same kind of player, creative attackers who score and create goals. Pelé, Maradona, Cruyff, Ronaldo, Zidane, Messi, Mbappé and the others who feature in these discussions are all, indeed, great, but theirs is the same sort of greatness. Defenders, non-attacking midfielders or indeed goalkeepers rarely enter the conversation. N’Golo Kanté and Fabio Cannavaro, to name just two, frequently did things that I had as hard a time explaining to myself as when I first saw a roulette. Football is a team game, and attacking is only a part of the sport. There can’t be a GOAT because no one can excel at everything. Though the way Griezmann’s been playing, I would only be mildly surprised if he scored a hat-trick in the final and then saved three penalties as a goalkeeper in the shootout.”

And right here’s Yash Gupta on how the sport finished modified:

“When there is a comparison for the greatest of all time, I’d like to point out the often ignored – All the magical moments Messi has produced, if there was a player that I would bet my imaginary farm on, it would be Maradona. Take Messi vs Gvardiol for example. Gvardiol simply wipes out Messi if that match was played in 80s. And for as great Messi is, tackling was just a tiny bit different when Maradona played. Another point for Maradona would be he had his human moments and still feels much closer to heart even though I never watched him live. I was born long after he hung up his boots. There will never be another Diego Maradona in football.”

One of the marginally tedious, even dispiriting, points of World Cups is how discuss surrounding its breakout stars so shortly will get subsumed into chatter about which mega-rich golf equipment will choose them off, and the hearsay mill by no means sleeps. So we’ve obtained Manchester United being linked with Portugal’s marvel child Gonçalo Ramos, Leicester being linked with Azzedine Ounahi of Morocco and Angiers, and Real Madrid sniffing round PSV Eindhoven’s Cody Gakpo.

“For all the talk of France’s ‘clinical finishing’ being the difference last night,” writes Christopher Gibney, “it’s worth reflecting that both of their goals came from blocked shots turning into lucky assists, whereas for Morocco’s numerous forays into the box the ball tended to break for defenders to clear. We rationalise these results in hindsight – talking about experience, and ‘killer instinct’ being the difference in tight games – but personally I think blind luck played a much bigger role last night. Given how they’ve played, in Deschamps France seem to be demonstrating the wisdom of that famous Napoleonic preference for having lucky generals rather than a good ones.”

And but they hold getting fortunate. Morocco had loads of forays, England had loads of forays, so for that matter did Denmark and Poland against France. And but France beat all of them. There’s a psychological facet to all this too. France haven’t performed spectacularly on this match, have usually been below strain, however have by no means actually appeared rattled.

A spot of English home news now, and Erik ten Hag has mentioned he’d be completely glad for Manchester United house owners the Glazers to do one from Old Trafford. “My information is that it will only be good things because there will be more investment possible, which is good,” mentioned the United supervisor.

Car hits and kills boy as followers have fun France win

Some extra correspondence: “If ever there was a scoreline 2-0 that did not reflect how close the game was, it was yesterday,” writes V Krishnamoorthy. “What Morocco lacked was big-game temperament and/or experience. France was clinical in the two chances they had. leaving aside the romanticism attached to the underdogs, Morocco was clearly the winner yesterday.”

Yeah there have been simply a few events when their decision-making allow them to down after they obtained into France’s penalty space however aside from that their efficiency was crisp and fluent and very simple on the attention, giving the misinform nonsense comparisons in some quarters with the likes of Greece 2004. It’s a little bit of a bugbear of mine that “underdog” groups are assumed to base their success on defensive anti-football, though their kinds fluctuate as a lot because the “elite” groups do. Morocco did want a bit extra innovative however aside from that they have been one of many savviest tournament-football groups I’ve seen for a lot of a yr.

On to France’s opponents and Kurt Perleberg writes: “I live in the US & I want to see Argentina win the World Cup Final on Sunday so that Lionel Messi. who is on the Mount Rushmore of Soccer legends (along with Cristiano Ronaldo Diego Maradona & Pele) can go riding off into the sunset of international soccer & begin his last few years in this beautiful game at David Beckham’s Inter Miami CF in Major League Soccer (MLS).”

Fun with details: Randal Kolo Muani’s objective against Morocco final night time means each quantity on the World Cup squad lists, from one to 26, has now featured on the scoresheet, PA Media tells us.

Even extra fascinatingly, Saturday’s third-place play-off would be the second in a row contested by groups who’d already met within the group stage – Belgium v England final time, Morocco v Croatia this.

It was energetic in Paris final night time, amongst followers of each groups, as Angelique Chrisafis stories:

Blocking of ESL supported by authorized opinion:

Huzzah! (For now). Back to that authorized wrangle, right here’s the decision:

Uefa and Fifa’s proper to dam new competitions just like the European Super League is appropriate with EU legislation, in keeping with a key authorized opinion revealed on Thursday.

The opinion of the Advocate General within the case, Athanasios Rantos, was learn out on Thursday morning on the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

Richard Hirst will get in contact: “In the Daily Briefing Daniel Harris discusses whether Maradona or Messi is the GOAT, but comparing across eras is surely impossible, particularly because it is subject to the bias towards the recent, towards what we have seen for ourselves and can clearly remember.

I didn’t see Pele’s first two World Cups, but I did see 1970, and to my mind, having said comparison is impossible, he is without doubt the greatest. That is subjective, but winning three World Cups isn’t.”

Indeed, although what it takes to win three World Cups has additionally modified. But these debates don’t throw up something that may be clinically confirmed, so let’s simply take pleasure in Messi as we loved Maradona and, for many who noticed him, Pelé. Brilliant gamers are good in numerous methods, simply as eras fluctuate. There’s no have to rank them, enjoyable although it could be.

Away from the World Cup, one factor to look out for at the moment is the authorized opinion on the €uropean $uoer £eague, as PA Media stories:

A authorized opinion because of be given at the moment may form the long run route of European soccer.

The European Court of Justice’s Advocate General within the Super League court docket case is ready to provide his non-binding view on whether or not Uefa and Fifa abused a dominant place below EU competitors legislation after they blocked the formation of the Super League in April final yr, and in trying to sanction these concerned.

If Athanasios Rantos’ opinion is that Uefa did abuse its place, and the final ruling of the court docket subsequent yr agrees with him, it opens the door for rival competitors organisers to arrange occasions exterior Uefa’s jurisdiction sooner or later.

However, a ruling that backs Uefa’s proper to behave because it did may kill off the specter of breakaway competitions for generations to return.

The opinion is initially set to be learn out in court docket alongside different judgements and opinions from 8.30am this morning UK time, earlier than a written model is revealed in full later within the day. In many earlier instances the court docket judges’ final ruling has carefully mirrored the Advocate General’s opinion, so it may present a robust indication of the final consequence.

Whatever the result, one fears the self-entitled ESL plotters gained’t take no for a solution.

For all of the Messi v Mbappé discuss, PSG aren’t the best-represented membership among the many finalists’ squads – that honour goes to Atlético Madrid, with Real Betis, Villarreal, Barcelona and Real Madrid additionally outstanding. A wee pick-me-up for La Liga after a chastening match for Spain.

Some Moroccan reaction, from their spectacular coach, Walid Regragui, who understandably combined delight and disappointment:

“We knew we had achieved something great already and that everyone was proud of us. We are pleased with what we have done but felt we could have gone even further,” he mentioned. “Those small details are what help real champions win and we saw that tonight. I told the players I was proud of them, his majesty is proud, the Moroccan people are proud, the whole world is proud. We worked hard, we were honest, and we showed the values we wanted to show.”

And as we’re attending to the stage the place individuals begin composing their match XIs, I’d have two, possibly three, Moroccans in rivalry – Ounahi, Hakimi and notably the tireless Amrabat – you’d love a participant like that at your membership wouldn’t you. Boufal and Ziyech may also be within the reckoning.

Some migrant employee news from Reuters, who report that greater than three dozen Nepali civil society teams have referred to as on the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, to “stop looking the other way” whereas migrant employees are denied compensation after having “suffered abuses in Qatar”, Amnesty International mentioned.

And a reminder of yesterday’s grim news:

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Photograph: Caspar Benson

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