We're getting towards the business end of the World Cup, and after the first day without a match yesterday, the tournament returns tonight with our first quarterfinal between France and Morocco. You can recap all the buildup right here, with ESPN.
Just eight teams remain and, as the only African side left in the competition, Morocco will be carrying the hopes of an entire continent.
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They do so in what are quite possibly the most difficult possible circumstances. France have been the standout team of the tournament so far, breezing through the group stages with a 3-1 win over Senegal, a 3-0 victory over Iraq, and a 4-1 drubbing of Norway, even if the latter had fielded a much-changed side.
After that, France continued as they'd started with a comfortable 3-0 win over Sweden.
They faced slightly more opposition in the round of 16, when they came up against a Paraguay side that was as defensively sound as it was dirty, with the South American side somehow avoiding a single booking despite some robust tactics when it came to dealing with the likes of Kylian Mbappé.
Morocco, meanwhile, also impressed in the group stages. They held Brazil to a 1-1 draw before claiming wins over Scotland and Haiti.
In the round of 32, Issa Diop scored a stoppage-time equaliser to hold the Netherlands to a 1-1 draw, and eventually triumphed on penalties.
They didn't have things all their own way in their round-of-16 clash with co-hosts Canada, but some clinical finishing from Azzedine Ounahi and Soufiane Rahimi took Morocco through to the quarterfinals.
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