France coach Didier Deschamps spent much of his World Cup news conference on Wednesday addressing questions about issues off the pitch, ranging from racist remarks directed at French star Kylian Mbappé to refereeing decisions and his own future while French authorities prepare for possible unrest surrounding Thursday's quarterfinal against Morocco.

Thousands of police officers are expected to be deployed across the country after the two sides' 2022 World Cup semifinal sparked more than 250 arrests, many of them in Paris.

Even without the off-field concerns, the clash is shaping up to be an intriguing matchup following France's 2-0 victory over Morocco in the 2022 World Cup semifinals in Qatar.

A victory on Thursday would keep France on course to become only the third nation, after Brazil and Germany, to reach the final of three consecutive World Cups. Morocco made history in 2022 as the first African nation to reach a World Cup semifinal.

“We met them four years ago in the semifinal. They also played in the African final. It is a really great, excellent team with top-notch individuals. They're not here to play. They're there to win,” Deschamps said.

“They like to attack to score goals. We have to be ready.” Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said his team has bigger ambitions than simply reaching the last eight.

“I don't like this feeling where we can say what we've done up until now is great and the rest is a bonus,” Ouahbi said. “No, the only bonus is to win the World Cup.”

Midfielder Brahim Diaz added that Morocco's 3-0 victory over Canada in the round of 16 reflected the team's mentality, stating, “This is our mentality. We want to keep going. Everybody wants to play in this type of game.”

However, Morocco will be without midfielder Ismael Saibari, who suffered a thigh injury during the win over Canada, Ouahbi confirmed.

France midfielder Michael Olise remains one booking away from suspension after FIFA rejected France's appeal against the yellow card he received during their 1-0 round-of-16 win over Paraguay.

“We received FIFA's decision this morning that the yellow card was maintained,” Deschamps said, noting that another booking against Morocco will force Olise to miss the next match.

Olise was booked in the 97th minute after an altercation with Paraguay's Matías Galarza. France's appeal had followed US President Donald Trump personally appealing to FIFA President Gianni Infantino regarding Folarin Balogun's red-card suspension.

Addressing other distractions, Deschamps emphasized that captain Kylian Mbappé remains fully focused following racist comments made by a Paraguayan senator last week.

“Kylian is OK. Whatever happens, I don't want to look back and think about it again. He's a very strong guy mentally, physically. He's just focused on tomorrow's game,” he said.

Deschamps also brushed aside questions regarding refereeing controversy and his own 14-year coaching tenure, maintaining, “It is out of our control. I trust the refereeing. Some refereeing decisions may lead to discussions. It really depends on everyone's opinion. Our opponent is Morocco, not the referee.”

The 57-year-old manager concluded regarding his future: “The last game could have been the last one. In my head, with the technical staff, we want to win tomorrow. That's the objective. In a football game there are many possibilities when it comes to tomorrow's result. I'm focused on the Moroccan team so we can win that game.”

With Inputs from UNB