ROMAIN SAISS

The tournament in Qatar has been described by FIFA president Gianni Infantino as the “best World Cup ever.”.

AL KHOR, Qatar — (AP) — France and Kylian Mbappé are headed back to the World Cup final for a much-anticipated matchup with Lionel Messi after ending Morocco's historic run at soccer's biggest tournament. France will head into Sunday's title match against Argentina looking to become the first team to retain the World Cup title since Brazil in 1962. There will be no team from the Arab world in the final of the first World Cup in the Middle East, a prospect that seemed nigh impossible before the tournament. Typically a defense-first team, Morocco was forced to come out and play and, roared on by tens of thousands of fans who dominated the 60,000-seat Al Bayt Stadium, the team penned back France. ___Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80___AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsCopyright 2022 The Associated Press.

Chelsea and Manchester City didn’t field a recognized striker between them yet still combined for 11 goals in ominous displays by the two title contenders in the Premier League.

Arsenal's manager Mikel Arteta reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Burnley and Arsenal at Turf Moor stadium in Burnley, England, Saturday, March 6, 2021. Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka received a short pass from goalkeeper Bernd Leno, took a slightly heavy touch onto his weaker right foot, then attempted a dangerous pass across the face of goal around Burnley striker Chris Wood. “It’s the way we play and the way we want to play,” said Arteta, whose side had gone ahead through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. He was sent off in the teams’ meeting at Emirates Stadium in December and also in their game in January 2017. The team hasn't played in the Champions League since the 2016-17 campaign, missing out last season after a late collapse.

Alexandre Lacazette scored twice in a 4-0 rout of West Bromwich Albion that took Arsenal up to 11th place. Tottenham is six points better off in third place after Son scored and got an assist in a 3-0 victory over Leeds. SON-KANE COMBOSon and Harry Kane equaled the Premier League record for most goal combinations in a season, leveling Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton’s tally of 13 from 1994-95. With all stadiums denied fans due to pandemic restrictions, the South Korean could only celebrate his 100th goal with teammates. “We could have scored more goals," Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho said.