It's Mbappe vs Messi! Winners and losers as France set up World Cup final showdown with Argentina after battling past Morocco

While Theo Hernandez's defensive attributes are underappreciated he is, as we saw against England, always prone to doing something silly.

His needless shoulder-charge on Mason Mount could – and indeed should – have resulted in France being forced into playing an extra half hour against an England side they were struggling to contain. He also arguably got away with a clumsy tackle on Sofiane Boufal here.

However, Stefano Pioli and plenty of others would argue that the risk that comes with picking Hernandez in defence is worth the potential reward, and this game illustrated why, with the AC Milan star popping up in the area to open the scoring with an acrobatic finish that got better with every viewing.

The irony, of course, is that he probably wouldn't have started a single game at this tournament had his brother Lucas not been injured in France's opener against Australia, given Deschamps is quite a conservative coach.

But Hernandez, who has created more chances at this tournament than any other defender (11), is a big reason why Les Bleus are back in another final.

The gamble did not pay off. On the contrary, it backfired badly.

Less than 20 minutes into the biggest game in Moroccan football history, Walid Regragui had lost two of the three centre-backs he had picked to face France.

Nayef Aguerd didn't even make the kick-off, forced to withdraw at the 11th hour due to illness. He was soon joined on the bench by his captain, Romain Saiss, who pulled up while trying and failing to keep up with Olivier Giroud – the most obvious sign of a physical problem possible.

The skipper's substitution was particularly problematic because it forced Regragui into switching to a back four, which obviously limited Achraf Hakimi and Noussair Mazraoui's chances to get forward without the security of an extra centre-half to negate the threat posed by France's fliers out wide, Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe.

The former failed to take advantage but the latter certainly made an impact (more on that later), while the once-again excellent Antoine Griezmann exploited the upheaval and uncertainty in the Moroccan backline inside five minutes and continued to cause problems throughout.

The Atlas Lions, remember, hadn't trailed once in this tournament until Hernandez's opener. Sadly, they can only now wonder what might have happened had all of their first-choice defenders been fit...

It's worth remembering that Didier Deschamps copped a copious amount of criticism after France's last-16 exit at Euro 2020.

Plenty of pundits and supporters had grown weary of his safety-first approach to football. The argument was that, given the players at his disposal, France were merely effective when they could be truly exhilarating.

It is impossible to argue with Deschamps' World Cup record, though.

Not only has he led a team to a second consecutive final, after triumphing at Russia 2018, the man who lifted the trophy as a player in 1998 has now won 14 of his 18 matches as a coach. Only Helmut Schon has managed more (16).

Whether the purists like it or not, Deschamps is a winner. And on Sunday he could become only the second manager, after Italy's Vittorio Pozzo, to win back-to-back World Cups.

Dayot Upamecano only missed this game through illness, but there is now zero guarantee that he will get back into the side for Sunday's final.

In fact, it would be a travesty if Ibrahima Konate does not retain his place alongside Raphael Varane in the centre of defence as the 23-year-old was sensational here, utterly integral to France repelling wave after wave of Moroccan attacks.

Konate made one crucial interception after another, a succession of terrifically timed tackles and even put Olivier Giroud in on goal with a sublime ball over the top.

Konate was quite simply Les Bleus' best player on the night, and when one considers just how much trouble Upamecano was given by Harry Kane in the quarter-finals, the Liverpool man is the obvious choice to tackle Messi & Co this weekend.

This defeat will obviously devastate Morocco's players. They were 90 minutes away from a World Cup final.

However, in the grand scheme of things, this result chances nothing. They had already made history. And, honestly, the way in which they responded to their injury issues and the concession of an early goal will only add the legend of the Atlas Lions and what they have done here in Qatar.

No African side had ever previously made it past the quarter-finals. Well, they have absolutely smashed through that glass ceiling, redefining what is possible for the international game's undervalued and underappreciated nations when talent is combined with organisation, fighting spirit and vociferous support.

Regragui claimed before this game that his team were the ultimate underdog story, the footballing equivalent of Rocky, and that the entire world had fallen in love with his side. And he's right. Dima Maghreb!

Kylian Mbappe was the thorn in the Atlas Lions' paw. He did everything but score, tormenting his good friend Achraf Hakimi at every opportunity and just causing chaos every single time he picked up speed or entered the area.

Indeed, both goals came from Mbappe shots. He had a couple of swings at Griezmann's early cut-back before the ball dropped for Hernandez to break the deadlock, while he jinked his way past a couple of Moroccan defenders before seeing his subsequent strike deflected into the path of Kolo Muani.

The net result is that Mbappe, at just 23 years of age, will play in his second World Cup final. Standing in his way will be one Lionel Messi, meaning we're set for a direct battle for the most important trophy in world football, the Golden Boot, the Golden Ball and the Ballon d'Or.

It just does not get any bigger or better than this. Sunday can't come soon enough!