World Cup: Hugo Lloris is hailed as ‘impeccable’ in L’Equipe’s ratings for France against Morocco

French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was hailed as “impeccable” by L’Equipe after his impressive performance in Les Bleus’ 2-0 win over Morocco in the World Cup semi-final after he helped ensure that the team North Africa could not deliver an epic coup.

Didier Deschamps’s men are through to the final after seeing off the tournament’s surprise package to book a showdown with Argentina on Sunday, and it was Lloris who drew the biggest praise from the French outlet’s usually dour ratings.

The Tottenham man followed up a terrific performance against England in the quarter-final by fending off an acrobatic effort from El Yamiq before later thwarting Azzedine Ounahi to keep a clean sheet.

Hugo Lloris and Antoine Griezmann received high praise from L’Equipe after their 2-0 World Cup semi-final win against Morocco.

L’Equipe were enthusiastic about his display, as he scored the highest in the team of eight.

“Flawless overall performance,” the publication said. ‘He has a good eye and a bit of luck in the scissors of El Yamiq who comes to accompany him in his position (44th). He had already been present with a [save] in a curly shot from Ounahi (10th).

‘Two good air [claims] when the French defense began to suffer. Still safe in the hot Moroccan moments for [let France] breathe (67º). Very clean in all the balls of him.

Lloris earned his second straight eight for L’Equipe after his best saves against England’s Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane in the final round.

The Tottenham goalkeeper made a handful of important saves to prevent Morocco from being surprised, with L’Equipe calling him “flawless”.

Griezmann put on a dominant display against Morocco and was hailed for his ‘courage’

Antoine Griezmann was also praised in the game for showing ‘courage’ and ‘commitment, but he may feel unlucky if he only gets a seven after a great display, after playing a key role in Theo Hernandez’s first goal.

Griezmann started the movement that led to the goal early when he bombarded the right flank before passing the ball to Kylian Mbappe, before Hernández sent the ball home.

‘What commitment, what courage and what importance!’ they wrote. “His position of him a little further ahead of him initially gave him a little more freedom of movement off the ball.

The Frenchman was behind the goal of Hernández (5th). Back in that hybrid role after the break, he especially excelled by saving several dangerous balls in his own box.’

However, while Olivier Giroud has been excellent throughout the tournament, he failed to make much of an impact against Morocco and L’Equipe were less than impressed with his finishing, giving him a four out of 10.

Olivier Giroud received a four after missing ‘two golden chances’ to score against Morocco

With all the talk about the possibility of Karim Benzema returning from injury for the final, Giroud did not cover himself in glory as he failed to make the score, with the French outlet criticizing him for missing ‘two golden opportunities’ and said his replacement Marcus Thuram was more effective.

“An insufficient game because he had two golden chances and he missed them both,” he wrote. The first hitting the post hard (17th) and the second when he seemed to have plenty of time to control (36th).

‘A little frustrating technically and not always sovereign in the head. i’m not happy to go [off]. Replaced by Marcus Thuram (65th), who contributed a lot because he defended on the left wing. And he contributed offensively by being in all the correct plays (71st, 74th) and in the second goal (79th)’.

Another player who was given a four was Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele, with L’Equipe claiming he had to “sacrifice” his attacking efforts to make “defensive retreats”, saying he made “zero” offensive contributions.

Mbappé, meanwhile, scored a five after he “never made the effort to defend” or “cut Morocco’s passing lanes”. They also claimed that he had a “little bit of luck” seeing his deflected shot roll into the path of Hernández for the first goal.