Soccer World Cup
France without Rabiot and Upamecano against Morocco
The Frenchman Dayot Upamecano initially sits weak on the bench. photo
© Christophe Ena/AP/dpa
Soccer world champions France will have to do without sick Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot in the World Cup semifinals against Morocco.
Soccer world champions France will have to do without sick Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot in the World Cup semifinals against Morocco.
The 24-year-old Bayern professional Upamecano will initially be on the bench in the game on Wednesday evening (8 p.m. CET/ZDF and MagentaTV) in the Al-Bait Stadium and will be replaced in central defense by ex-Leipzig player Ibrahima Konaté. The 27-year-old midfielder Rabiot is not even in the French squad, with Youssouf Fofana playing in midfield.
Upamecano and Rabiot had missed the final training of the Équipe Tricolore before the game. According to media reports, both suffer from a cold. Apart from these two changes, coach Didier Deschamps offers the same starting XI against surprise team Morocco as he did in the quarter-finals 2-1 against England. The offensive is made up of superstar Kylian Mbappé, goalscorer Olivier Giroud and ex-Dortmund Ousmane Dembélé. Antoine Griezmann, who was strong last time, is back in attacking midfield.
Morocco made another change to their starting XI just before kick-off. Defender Nayef Aguerd, who was injured in the quarter-finals against Portugal, was out after the warm-up. Achraf Dari took his place in the team. Coach Walid Regragui’s team started in the first semi-final with the participation of an African team after exhausting performances in the previous knockout stage without Yahia Attiyat Allah and Selim Amallah, both of whom are on the bench. Against the world champion, Regragiu switched his defense to a five-man chain.
French Federation Moroccan Federation