Morocco striker Youssef En-Nesyri touched the ball THREE times in World Cup semi-final vs France – the fewest by anyone to play 45 minutes or more in the tournament’s history – before he’s subbed off with unwanted record
Morocco’s World Cup hero Youssef En-Nesyri finished his brilliant Qatar campaign with an unwanted record after he only managed to touch the ball three times in his side’s semi-final defeat by France.
The Morocco striker has enjoyed a superb tournament up until tonight’s semi-final, with his goal against Portugal in the quarter-finals helping the Atlas Lions become the first African and Arab country to reach the last four of the tournament.
However, En-Nesyri struggled to make any sort of impact against the reigning world champions at the Al-Bayt Stadium and has now written his name in the World Cup history books for the wrong reasons.
Morocco striker Youssef En-Nesyri touched the ball just three times in the 2-0 defeat by France
Having started the match, the 25-year-old, who is his country’s leading scorer at the tournament with three goals, was only able to touch the ball three times while leading the line before he was replaced in the 66th minute by manager Walid Regragui.
It means that En-Nesyri, who plays his club football for Sevilla in LaLiga, has made the fewest touches of the ball on record by any player to play 45 minutes of more in a World Cup match.
It’s a disappointing end for En-Nesyri and his Morocco team-mates, who were bidding to play Argentina in Sunday’s World Cup final.
Morocco’s dreams of reaching the final were ultimately dashed very early on when Theo Hernandez gained a tournament record of his own by scoring the quickest World Cup semi-final goal since 1958 after just four minutes and 39 seconds.
En-Nesyri’s three touches are the fewest by anyone to play 45 minutes or more at a World Cup
Morocco left themselves open while trying to intercept a brilliant through-ball to Antoine Griezmann before multiple failed attempts to block and clear Kylian Mbappe‘s shots saw the ball fall into Hernandez’s path for the left-back to break the deadlock.
A spirited Morocco attacked and attacked France’s goal and were denied on multiple occasions by Hugo Lloris and Co in search of an equaliser to keep their dreams alive.
But France doubled their lead to leave Morocco devastated and deflated, with substitute Randal Kolo Muani scoring within seconds of coming on to put the game to bed and book Didier Deschamps’ men a spot in a second successive World Cup final.
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