France coach Deschamps' full attention on Morocco match, not referee


Published: 12:09 9 July 2026
Amid the refereeing and VAR controversy in the World Cup, France coach Didier Deschamps faced questions from journalists at a press conference before the quarter-final. However, without escalating the controversy, he clearly stated that France's attention is only on the Morocco match.
Since the Argentine refereeing team was in charge of the France-Morocco match, Deschamps was asked about this. In response, the France coach said that he has respect for the referees. In his words, France's opponent is not the referee, but Morocco.
France reached the final by defeating Morocco in the semi-finals of the Qatar World Cup. Therefore, many are seeing this match as a revenge match. However, Deschamps believes that in football, revenge is not the last word, but performance on the field.
The France coach is giving importance to Morocco's recent form. He sees the team that defeated the Netherlands and reached the quarter-finals as a strong opponent. According to Deschamps, France will have to play better football to win against Morocco.
Although France has stars like Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barkola and Michael Olis in the attack, Deschamps is cautious. He believes that Morocco is not a team like Paraguay. Therefore, France will have to be at its best in the match in terms of concentration, planning and effective attack.
Deschamps, who won the World Cup as a player in 1998, led France to the championship in 2018 as a coach. France finished runner-up in the 2022 World Cup under his leadership. Although there are indications that he will step down after the current World Cup, Deschamps said that for now he is only thinking about the Morocco match.
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