FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts, July 8 (Reuters) - France have scored a tournament-leading 14 goals in the World Cup so far but coach Didier Deschamps urged his players on Wednesday to achieve even greater attacking efficiency when they take on Morocco in Thursday's quarter-final.
The meeting is a rematch of the 2022 World Cup semi-final, when France ended Morocco's historic run in Qatar, but this time the North Africans are no longer the surprise outsiders but a confident side aiming for the title.
"We
have to be efficient, offensively speaking," Deschamps told a press conference. "In all the areas both teams have strong assets."
"We are efficient but we could have done better on this front. Sometimes you have six chances and score two goals and sometimes you have two chances and score twice. It is more important to be efficient."
France edged past Paraguay in the round of 16 with a scrappy 1-0 win courtesy of a Kylian Mbappe penalty. The France captain has seven goals in the tournament, second behind Argentina's Lionel Messi, who has eight.
Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and Bradley Barcola have given France one of the most dangerous forward lines at the World Cup.
Morocco eased through their group stage, before knocking out Netherlands and co-hosts Canada, and confirming their status as serious title contenders.
"Morocco's profile is not the one of Paraguay. We met them four years ago in the semi-finals," Deschamps said. "They played the AFCON (Africa Cup of Nations) final. They have top individuals. They are not here to play. They are here to win. We have to be ready and perform and deliver against this great team."
Deschamps will need to wait and see whether midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, who has been nursing a muscle injury, will be fit in time for the game.
"He feels better but I left early from the hotel this morning. I cannot say more. He might take part in training today. All other players they are available," Deschamps said.
As for France's appeal to have Michael Olise's yellow card in the game against Paraguay rescinded, Deschamps said FIFA had informed them the caution stood.
The ruling comes days after the furore caused by FIFA's decision to suspend a match ban after a red card was given to U.S. player Folarin Balogun and following an intervention by President Donald Trump.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Toby Chopra)
