France did not so much reach the Geopolitics World Cup semi-finals as glide there. Didier Deschamps’ side needed only a first-half opener and a second, killer strike to see off Morocco 2-0 in front of a capacity crowd near Boston on Thursday, a result that felt settled long before the final whistle. For a tournament sold on drama and upsets, the reigning giants of European football are becoming an inconvenient constant: methodical, ruthless, and increasingly difficult to imagine losing.
How France dismantled Morocco
Morocco arrived in New England as the tournament’s great romantic story, an African side that had already outrun expectation and carried a continent’s hopes into the last eight. They left having barely laid a glove on the favourites. France’s 2-0 win was built on the same platform that has defined their run — control of midfield, patience in possession, and a forward line that punishes the single mistake most teams eventually make.
The pattern will be familiar to anyone who watched France’s earlier rounds. Deschamps’ team rarely chase games because they rarely trail. They squeeze the tempo, force opponents to commit numbers forward, and then strike in transition with Kylian Mbappé leading the line. Against Morocco, the second goal effectively ended the contest and allowed France to do what they do best in knockout football: manage the clock, protect the lead, and walk off without a scare.
It has not been entirely without wobbles. France were rattled in the last 16 by Paraguay, whose spirited resistance briefly threatened the sort of upset this competition was built to produce. But the response was telling. Rather than panic, Deschamps’ players reverted to type and reasserted themselves, and by the quarter-final they were back in what one reader aptly described as “cruise control.”
Les Inévitables?
There is a growing sense around this France side that the outcome is already written. One reader, watching the minute-by-minute coverage of the Morocco game, wondered aloud whether this team might go down in history as Les Inévitables — the Inevitables. It is only half a joke. France’s aura at major tournaments has hardened over the past decade into something opponents visibly fear, and the current squad blends that big-game composure with the individual brilliance of a genuine generational talent in Mbappé.
Deschamps understands knockout football as well as any coach of his era. His France teams are rarely the most thrilling to watch, but they are relentlessly effective. They defend the box, they minimise risk, and they trust that superior quality in the final third will decide tight matches. That formula has already delivered one World Cup and carried France deep into every tournament since. On current form, betting against them requires a leap of faith few would take.
The comparison to previous French dynasties is not lazy. Where the 1998 and 2018 sides won through balance and depth, this iteration adds an almost mechanical inevitability. Morocco are a good team. They were beaten without France ever appearing to leave second gear.
Who is left to stop them?
The uncomfortable question for the rest of the field is simple: who has the tools to break the pattern? The remaining contenders will need to solve problems France have not yet been forced to answer.
- A side willing to press high and disrupt France’s build-up before Mbappé gets isolated in space.
- The clinical edge to punish France in the rare moments they concede a chance — something no opponent has managed at scale.
- The nerve to stay in the contest past the hour mark, when France’s game management typically closes the door.
England, preparing for their own weekend assignment, offer one possible answer. This is a young squad — the core born around 1998 — with pace and fearlessness to match France’s own. Whether they can convert promise into the ruthlessness this level demands is the story of their tournament, and the reference point for any nation dreaming of derailing the favourites.
The summer’s transfer noise continues around the edges of all this — the women’s game has seen a flurry of movement, with Arsenal adding Spain and Barcelona defender Ona Batlle to an already busy window — but the men’s tournament narrative keeps returning to the same place. France are on the march. Deschamps has built a side that treats the latter stages of a World Cup as a procedure rather than a gamble. Someone, somewhere, will have to find a way to make them uncomfortable. On the evidence of Boston, no one has managed it yet.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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