Argentina are one game away from potentially winning their first World Cup in more than 30 years they knocked out Croatia in the semi-finals in Qatar winning by three goals to Nils Lionel Messi scored the opener and was instrumental in setting up the second and third goals and there were scenes of Joy outside the stadium Argentina’s opponents will be either France or Morocco who face each other later final takes place on Sunday tomb Rado reports Morocco’s Fairy Tale run to the semi-finals has electrified the footballing world they’ve already made history by becoming the first African or Arab team to make the last four of the tournament but they will be hungry for much much more Morocco remains our only team in this tournament it’s a great pride for us Africans I am very confident I think Morocco will beat France their clash with France is tantalizing on many levels on the one hand you have the current holders with Superstar Striker killing mbappe leading the line taking on one of the tournaments underdogs this is great news we will be able to go much further in this world cup and it will be really great I can’t wait to see the final but there’s a historical Edge too on their Journey Through the competition Morocco has defeated a succession of European powers Belgium then Spain and Portugal now they will aim to overcome France a country which controlled the North African nation for more than four decades in the 20th century I haven’t slept well I packed my luggage and went directly to the airport we wish the team success against France and why not write our name in history God willing whoever wins will take on Argentina who claimed a three-nil victory over Croatia on Monday it was Lionel Messi who produced the kind of Wizardry which has earned him the nickname the little magician serving up a goal on a plate for his elated teammate it’s this footballing sorcery which Morocco or France will have to contain if not then Messi stands a good chance of adding the World Cup to his already extraordinary trophy cabinet Tom Brader BBC News so how are Moroccans feeling before the match our correspondent to Miami Jones is in Casablanca I think it’s hard to overstate just how excited people are about this match tonight they’ve watched the national team achieve something that many of them thought was impossible and they’ve watched them do this under a Moroccan coach under many players who’ve trained here and decided to play for the national team and I think it’s filled the whole country with a sense of Pride and a real sense of you know that their position now as the last remaining team in this competition they say that they’re doing it not just for Morocco but for the entire continent and for the entire Arab world yeah the match is just under 12 hours away so they’re probably going to be a lot of nerves today there are a lot of Moroccans in Qatar for the event aren’t there yeah indeed the government here has sponsored a number of flights making them a lot cheaper to fly to Qatar just under 500 euros for return tickets um and it’s also made it um a lot easier for people to be able to get there so they want a massive critical mass of Moroccan fans for this historical match this is for many people the biggest football game of Their Lives Many people here go to cafes to watch the match Cafe owners are getting ready to get some of the biggest crowds that they’ve ever seen fan zones are being set up people are cooking in their homes ahead of the match so there’s a lot of excitement and if they win tonight the scenes here in Casablanca are going to be incredible yeah and the fact that they are going to be playing France how much is that a factor in the nerves in the excitement in the Rivalry I mean it’s an incredible story isn’t it to get to this point they’ve had to defeat two of their previous Colonial um Powers Portugal and Spain and now France their biggest is a huge Moroccan diaspora in France I’ll also be watching I think for many Moroccans that’s added to their sense of Pride as we got here but we’ve also got here by defeating some of the best teams in the world and also teams of countries that used to rule us so all of this is adding to this feeling that this is a once in a generation uh occasion and something that people are going to remember for decades to come
