Morocco already made World Cup history by defeating Spain and Portugal to become the first African nation to play in a World Cup semifinal. Their next test is undoubtedly the toughest of them all, with reigning world champion France firmly on a mission to defend their title.
Can Morocco continue their phenomenal run in Qatar or will France put an end to the African dream? Our FIFA 23 comparison will define the odds of an upset.
Morocco has won the hearts of the neutrals with their gritty performances at the 2022 World Cup. The African nation is already treading grounds that no other team from the continent has ever reached before. With eating comes appetite and the next dish is the chef’s kiss, France. Eliminating Spain and Portugal is impressive enough, but there’s no bigger challenge than the defending world champions.
To see just how big the gap between these two nations is, we pulled out the FIFA 23 World Cup player ratings for all players who started in Morocco and France’s quarterfinal victories.
Morocco’s FIFA 23 World Cup player ratings
- GK: Yassine Bounou – 84 OVR
- RB: Achraf Hakimi – 84 OVR
- CB: Jawad El Yamiq – 79 OVR
- CB: Romain Saïss – 80 OVR
- LB: Yahia Attiat Allah – 70 OVR
- CM: Sofyan Amrabat – 79 OVR
- CM: Azzedine Ounahi – 78 OVR
- CM: Selim Amallah – 78 OVR
- RW: Hakim Ziyech – 84 OVR
- LW: Sofiane Boufal – 80 OVR
- ST: Youssef En-Nesyri – 81 OVR
France’s FIFA 23 World Cup player ratings
- GK: Hugo Lloris – 87 OVR
- RB: Jules Koundé – 84 OVR
- CB: Raphaël Varane – 84 OVR
- CB: Dayot Upamecano – 82 OVR
- LB: Theo Hernandez – 85 OVR
- CM: Aurélien Tchouaméni – 83 OVR
- CM: Adrien Rabiot – 81 OVR
- RW: Ousmane Dembélé – 84 OVR
- LW: Kylian Mbappé – 91 OVR
- ST: Antoine Griezmann – 84 OVR
- ST: Olivier Giroud – 83 OVR
As you can see, going off FIFA 23 player ratings, this World Cup semifinal should be a stroll in the park for France. It’s worth mentioning that this was not necessarily the case in the comparison between Morocco and Portugal, where the Europeans had the advantage, but it was far less obvious.
France, on the other hand, has better players at every position, no questions asked. This statement could be ruled false by the time the first whistle is blown with reports of an illness striking two of France’s starters just a day before the match. It’s almost as if this is fate trying to tell us something. We can only confirm what FIFA 23 is saying, however, and that message is loud and clear: France is going to the World Cup final.
