Written by Omnia Hassan
Football fans around the world are looking, especially African This Thursday evening at Gillette Stadium in the United States, the anticipated showdown between the Moroccan national team and their French counterparts will be renewed, marking the opening of the quarter-final matches of the 2026 World Cup.
The match holds a special significance for the Moroccan national team, which seeks footballing revenge for its 2-0 loss to France in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup, when its historic adventure came to an end at the semi-final stage.
The “Atlas Lions” aspire to continue making history and achieve a new milestone by qualifying for the semi-finals for the second consecutive time, an unprecedented achievement for Moroccan and Arab football.
Confrontation between Moroccan ambition and French experience
The Moroccan national team enters the match with high morale after a series of strong performances in the tournament, the latest of which was a big win against Canada with three goals to nil, confirming their ability to compete with global powerhouses.
In contrast, the French national team continued its steady progress, having secured its place in the quarterfinals after defeating Paraguay with a goal scored by Kylian Mbappé from a penalty kick. The “Roosters” star raised his tally to 7 goals in the tournament, one goal behind leader Lionel Messi.
Match date and broadcasting channels
The confrontation between Morocco and France kicks off today, Thursday, at:
11:00 PM Mecca, Cairo, and Moscow time.
10:00 PM Morocco time.
The match will be held at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, United States.
The match is scheduled to be broadcast on beIN SPORTS channels:
beIN SPORTS MAX 1
beIN SPORTS MAX 2
beIN SPORTS MAX 5
beIN SPORTS MAX 6
The match will also be broadcast live for free on the Moroccan terrestrial sports channel within Morocco.
Predicted lineup for both teams
Morocco national team
Goalkeeper: Bounou
Defense: Hakimi – Issah Diop – Chadi Riad – Mazraoui
Midfield: Naïl El Aynaoui – Ayoub Bouaddi – Azzedine Ounahi – Bilal El Khannouss
Attack line: Brahim Diaz – Soufiane Rahimi
France national team
Goalkeeping: Mike Maignan
Defenders: Jules Koundé – Dayot Upamecano – William Saliba – Lucas Digne
Midfield: Manu Koné – Adrien Rabiot – Michael Olise
Attack line: Ousmane Dembélé – Kylian Mbappé – Désiré Doué
History of confrontations shows French superiority and Moroccan desire to break the jinx
The two teams have faced each other in six previous matches, with France winning three times, two matches ending in a draw, and Morocco securing one victory on penalties after a draw in a friendly.
The most prominent confrontation between the two teams remains the 2022 World Cup semi-final match, when the French national team succeeded in qualifying for the final after winning by two goals to nil.
