Rooting For The Underdog Is Easy; Stopping Kylian Mbappé And France Is Not

There’s something you should know about me: I’m a romantic. For better or worse, I am often blamed for idealizing emotion. Someone who thrives for beauty out of the simplest things in life. I also love to root for a narrative to be twisted on its head. It brings joy out of something unexpected. It’s a helpful character trait for a writer, but sometimes, it can be a detriment for a football analyst. And this was my dilemma Thursday as France, once again — like a sea monster destroying everything in its sight — won its World Cup quarterfinal, 2-0, against Morocco with history repeating itself, as this was the same scoreline from 2022 in Qatar when Les Bleus won out against the Atlas Lions in the semifinal stage. Me, the eternal romantic, thought Morocco could actually create the upset and reclaim a spot in the semifinals once again. But my goodness. How silly of me to become so romanticized with the notion that the Northern Africans could even be on the same level as France. In the words of Oscar Wilde: “After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. … Finally, you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.” And that’s what happened to Morocco, in a blistering heat in Foxborough, southwest of Boston, as Mohamed Ouahbi melted under pressure and played in a way that really was the opposite of what I believed his team to be. It says a lot when your best player of the day was the wonderful goalkeeper, Yassine Bounou, who stopped a first-half penalty from Kylian Mbappé. Maybe then, you thought, Morocco might stand a chance. But Mbappé, just like this French side, doesn’t ever stop charging. France, in fact, isn’t a team. It is an ocean. And you, Morocco, can only hope not drown in your dinghy. Morocco didn’t register a shot on target until the 82nd minute. It only had five touches in the opponent’s box — France had 25 — and did not register a single big chance. It was lost at sea. What angered me was the strategy because this was not the Morocco I knew from this tournament. I was there at New York/New Jersey Stadium in the first match of the group stage, witnessing the magnificent Ayyoub Bouaddi, only 18, turn Casemiro into a middle-schooler. I saw bravery against the Netherlands and tenacity against Canada. That’s why today it perplexed me. Morocco, quite simply, showed France too much respect. Don’t get me wrong: Didier Deschamps’ team deserves the ultimate respect. But it doesn’t need a red carpet to walk on, which is what happened today. And if you allow France to even have an inch, the 2018 winner, 2022 runner-up and 2026 semifinalist won’t take a mile. It will eat your entire map. Kylian Mbappé continues to marvel at us as he scored his eighth goal of the tournament, leveling Lionel Messi for the Golden Boot race and only one behind the Argentinian in the all-time record of 20. Ousmane Dembélé netted his fifth and Michael Olise has actually transformed himself into somewhat of a modern hybrid version of Zinedine Zidane — a legend who scored but, most importantly, created. So now comes the winner of Spain and Belgium, and to me, in this moment, there is no point in romanticizing anything anymore. Let’s just call it as it is: This is France’s World Cup to lose. And there’s nothing poetic about that statement. These are just the facts.