DOHA (Reuters) - France started the World Cup with more questions than answers after being ravaged by injuries, but they quickly ended the curse of the defending champions to reach the final thanks to their ruthlessness, mental strength and moments of sheer brilliance.
Kylian Mbappe scored five goals in his first three matches while Olivier Giroud, who owes his place in the starting lineup to Karim Benzema's last-minute injury, became France's all-time goal scorer as he launched the campaign with the first goal of their inaugural 4-1 win against Australia. He also netted the winner in the 2-1 victory against England in the quarter-final.
The fringe players failed to live up to expectations as Wahbi Khazri score the only goal before the hour. Substitute Griezmann equalised in stoppage time, only for te goal to be ruled out for offside after a VAR review initiated after the final whistle.LAST 16: FRANCE 3-1 POLAND France prevailed after a nerve-racking encounter. They went ahead thanks to a 25-metre Aurelien Tchouameni strike, but cracked early in the second half with Harry Kane converting a penalty after a Tchouameni foul.
"We got a bit lucky although we gave away two penalties. We kept our lead with our hearts and our guts," said Deschamps.France abandoned possession early on, knowing too well that Morocco revelled in defending deep and looking to hurt their opponents on the break.
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