Belgium in Brief: The end of a dream

Belgium in Brief: The end of a dream
Credit: Belga

After an impressive track record of beating Belgium, Spain and Portugal, Morocco lost its semi-final against France on Wednesday evening, ending the Atlas Lions' unexpected dream run this World Cup.

Commentators, sports experts and columnists have been praising Morocco's national team this year, as the players wrote a wonderful story and generated joy in Morocco, Africa and the entire Arab world.

On Saturday, Morocco will still face off against Croatia for the third place, but the big final, the game everyone is looking forward to, will be played on Sunday: Argentina versus France.

While they are teammates at PSG, the final will see Argentinian star player Lionel Messi facing off against France's Kylian Mbappé. This is not just a match for the title of World Champion but also a personal clash between the two.

Both teams have a similar playing style: very organised, very quick in the attack but also very tight in defence. No one is expecting scores like Argentina's 3-0 against Croatia or France's 2-0 against Morocco. There is even a very real chance that the game will be decided with penalties.

In any case, I am sure that testing Mbappé's speed against Messi's swift-footedness will result in some beautiful football.

Still, as a Belgian football fan, I don't think I will ever forgive Mbappé for this stunt he pulled in the semi-finals against the Red Devils during the 2018 World Cup.

What do you think? Any thoughts, hopes, tactical comments? Let @Maajtee know.

Belgium in Brief is a free daily roundup of the top stories to get you through your coffee break conversations. To receive it straight to your inbox every day, sign up below:

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