Milan star Theo Hernandez sent France into the World Cup Final against Argentina with an acrobatic goal in their 2-0 victory over Sofyan Amrabat’s Morocco, setting several records in the process.
The left-back propelled himself into the air for a scissor-kick finish at the back post after just five minutes, when Kylian Mbappé saw his attempt charged down.
His goal came after four minutes and 39 seconds, the fastest scored in a World Cup semi-final since Vava after two minutes for Brazil against France in 1958.
Theo Hernandez becomes the fourth Milan player to score in a World Cup semi-final after Karl-Heinz Schnellinger in 1970 for West Germany, Italy’s Gianni Rivera in the same tournament and Patrick Kluivert for the Netherlands in 1998.
This also means a Serie A player has scored in every single World Cup semi-final since 1966 (there were no semi-finals in the 1974 and 1978 editions).
It was a hugely-entertaining and wide open semi-final, which saw Milan striker Olivier Giroud hit the woodwork, as did former Genoa flop Jawad El Yamiq with a spectacular overhead kick.
Amrabat sprinted back for an extraordinary tackle on Mbappé, but France doubled their lead with substitute Randal Kolo Muani, who had only been on the pitch for 44 seconds.
Morocco will fight it out with Croatia for third place on Sunday, and curiously that was also their opening game in the group phase.
I think the unsung hero for the French is Griezmann, what an intelligent player.
Bunga2, Lautaro vs. Theo in final and in Supercoppa. 😛
Theo bringing his club form to international stage. 1 goal and 2 as.sists in 4 matches is an unbelievable contribution for a left back. He’s gonna be in the team of the tournament for sure.
Theo fully deserves it, what a fantastic player. And after all that horrible situation with his wife and children… bravo, Theo!