It looked like France might make short work of their opponents when Hernandez scored inside five minutes at Al Bayt Stadium, despite having a hostile crowd against them.
That will be billed as a showdown between Messi and his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe, but this match was not about the latter's individual brilliance. But whether they could repeat the feat against the holders was another matter, and coach Walid Regragui's plans were left in turmoil by a slew of injuries.
France were met by deafening whistles when in possession from the huge Moroccan support but they silenced the crowd with the early opener, Hernandez netting with an acrobatic volley at the back post after Mbappe's shot was deflected. When Saiss let a simple forward ball bounce over his head, Olivier Giroud broke away but his shot hit the post.Morocco finished the half strongly and nearly drew level when, following a corner, defender Jawad El Yamiq saw his overhead kick tipped onto the post by Lloris.
Les Bleus have been used to playing semi-finals on a knife-edge and their previous three wins at this stage –- in 1998, 2006 and 2018 -- had all come by a single goal.