France v Morocco World Cup quarter-final brings old friends together | OneFootball

France and Morocco meet in a World Cup quarter-final at Foxborough on Thursday at 22:00, with friendships across both squads shaping a unique occasion. Several Atlas Lions were born in France, deepening the personal ties.

According to L'Équipe, WhatsApp groups are already buzzing, not least for Issa Diop, 29, from France’s 1997 crop that won the Euro U19 a decade ago. Summer 2016 footage shows Amine Harit, Marcus Thuram, Jean-Kévin Augustin and Diop singing Booba’s 92i veyron.

Former France U19 coach Ludovic Batelli, now in charge of Morocco’s U20s, believes seeing Kylian Mbappé, Marcus Thuram, Theo Hernandez and Ousmane Dembélé on one side, with Diop on the other, will carry extra meaning. He hails the class of 2016 as elite, noting Thuram’s rise at Inter, Diop’s steady progress and the enduring bonds between them.

Dembélé and Diop still exchange messages. Diop also crossed paths with Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano in France’s youth set-up, while Manu Koné was among the youngsters he often saw at Toulouse’s academy. Ayyoub Bouaddi could easily have been on the opposite side, and the Lille man will face former Bleuets colleagues Risser, Cherki, Doué, Zaïre-Emery and Akliouche.

Club connections run deep. Brahim Diaz logged over 100 games with Theo Hernandez at AC Milan and now works daily with Aurélien Tchouaméni and Mbappé at Real Madrid. In midfield, AS Rome’s Manu Koné will try to outwit team-mate Neil el-Aynaoui. Upamecano knows the full range of former Bayern colleague Noussair Mazraoui. For 90 or 120 minutes, those bonds will be set aside.

Source: L'Équipe