It was an unfortunate night for one of Morocco's stars as he set an unwanted record while his side bowed out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
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Sevilla's Youssef En-Nesyri made history for all the wrong reasons when Morocco's fairy-tale World Cup run came to a crashing halt against reigning world champions France on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old started for Walid Regragui's charges but was unable to make a significant impact for the Atlas Lions as he touched the ball just three times in the 67 minutes he spent on the pitch.
He has thus set the record for the fewest touches by a player who has played 45 minutes or more in a World Cup game since 1966, as per Opta Sports.
Morocco's World Cup aspirations came to an end during the encounter against their western European counterparts as Yassine Bounou had to pick the ball out of his net twice, with goals from Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani sealing a 2-0 victory for the two-time world champions.
The north African giants could potentially make more history when they take on Croatia in the third-place play-off match this Saturday. Regragui's men have already done what no other African nation has ever been able to do and that is reach the World Cup's final four.
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After their semi-final defeat, the 47-year-old lauded his players for their effort throughout the tournament.
"We gave our all, that's the most important thing. The boys fought until the last minute," the former Wydad Casablanca boss said.
"We wanted to win the game, but we came up against a strong team that knows what it is doing and waits for you to make a mistake – which we made at the beginning of the game."
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