France will begin their final push towards a third World Cup title on Thursday when they take on Morocco in a tight clash as a star-studded quarter-final begins.
After a month of tough action that has allayed pre-tournament concerns over high ticket prices and geopolitics, the biggest, toughest and most complex World Cup has been whittled down to eight teams.
France, who have emerged as the tournament’s best team after a string of impressive attacks, face arguably their toughest test yet in the form of African champions Morocco at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, outside Boston.
Les Bleus have advanced to the last eight in style, scoring 14 goals in five games – seven of them from in-form captain Kylian Mbappe.
Mbappe is one of the four star strikers leading the race for the Golden Boot of the World Cup as the tournament enters the home stage.
Argentinian player Lionel Messi leads the list of scorers with eight, Mbappe and Erling Haaland of Norway have seven each and England’s Harry Kane has six.
