Morocco-France: How to watch Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal on Fox and Telemundo, TV and streaming

The story Morocco has authored in Qatar is an all-timer. The Atlas Lions are the first African team to make a semifinal in 30 World Cups over 92 years: 22 men’s and eight women’s.

Their feats have been made more extraordinary by the teams they’ve beaten in the knockout rounds so far. It may be just coincidence of fate that Morocco faced Spain in the round of 16 and Portugal in the quarterfinals, but don’t tell fans who know the two European countries colonized the North African nation for centuries.

In Wednesday’s semifinal, a third awaits, and it’s the biggest of all. France has a big cultural influence in Morocco, and Morocco has a big influence in France. After the win over Portugal, fans flooded Paris famed Champs-Elysées, just as French fans do for their team’s big wins. Similar celebrations broke out in cities worldwide, from London to New York — and to Philadelphia, too.

You might have seen Massarah Mikati’s recent feature in The Inquirer on how Morocco’s run has thrilled fans in the Philly area from a range of Arab countries. If you haven’t read it yet, check it out, along with José F. Moreno’s photos and Lauren Schneiderman’s video.

On Wednesday, those fans will throw another party, win or lose. Alas, deep down they know that this game is the one most likely to end in a loss.

» READ MORE: ‘We showed up’: Morocco’s World Cup performance fuels pride among Philly Arabs

This French team can win with style and it can win with grit. It can even win when not playing at full speed, as it did for too long in the quarterfinal edging of England.

Morocco will have the vast majority of fan support in the stands, and the hearts of underdog backers worldwide. But the Atlas Lions will not have the better talent on the field.

The game kicks off at 10 p.m. local time Wednesday night. At some point, the clock will strike midnight. We’ll see if it does so figuratively, or just literally.

Time: 2 p.m.

Venue: Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor

English TV/streaming: Fox29 and FoxSports.com (John Strong on play-by-play with analyst Stuart Holden, reporter Jenny Taft and referee expert Joe Machnik).

Pregame coverage starts at 1 p.m. Postgame coverage on FS1 starts at 4 p.m. The late highlights show is at 11 p.m. on FS1 and midnight on Fox.

Spanish TV/streaming: Telemundo 62, TelemundoDeportes.com and Peacock (Andrés Cantor on play-by-play with analysts Natalia Astrain and Manuel Sol and referee expert Horacio Elizondo).

Pregame coverage starts at 1, and postgame coverage goes until 5:30 p.m. The late highlights show is at midnight.

» READ MORE: Telemundo has reported on Qatar’s controversies, but Fox hasn’t

FoxSports.com and TelemundoDeportes.com require authentication through participating pay-TV providers. Peacock is NBC and Telemundo’s subscription streaming service.

Fox also has replays of every game for free on its streaming platform, Tubi.

Betting odds: France -440, Morocco +320.

Morocco: Achraf Hakimi. The Atlas Lions’ star right back is a Paris Saint-Germain teammate of French superstar forward Kylian Mbappé. Hakimi has led a defense that has conceded just one goal in five World Cup games, and it was an own goal against Canada. Now he has to try to stop his friend, who will be running right at him on that side of the field.

France: Kylian Mbappé. It may be obvious, but it’s also necessary. He’s the tournament’s top scorer so far with five goals, but he took just one shot against England. That was his lowest total of any game so far, including the group stage finale against Tunisia when he came off the bench in the second half.