The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FMRF) has complained to FIFA about the actions of referee Cesar Ramos during Morocco’s World Cup semifinal loss to France.

Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani’s goals on Wednesday helped the defending champions France advance to their second straight World Cup final, as Morocco fell 2-0.

The Moroccan players were first irate when winger Sofiane Boufal clashed with Hernandez in the France box, which led to a number of disputed rulings during the game.

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Before ticketing Boufal, the referee decided to give Les Bleus a free kick rather than giving a penalty to Morocco, which infuriated Walid Regragui’s team.

Substitute Selim Amallah was next pulled down in the France area as he awaited a free-kick delivery, yet Ramos once again elected not to award a spot-kick, or even request for a VAR review.

The FMRF said in its statement: “The FMRF has written to the relevant body to review the refereeing decisions that deprived the Moroccan team of two penalties that were indisputable in the view of several refereeing specialists.

“The FMRF was equally astonished that the video assistant referee (VAR) did not react to these situations.”

Morocco became the first African team to make it to the World Cup final four, creating history in Qatar.

The third-place play-off against Croatia on Saturday presents the Atlas Lions with a chance to end the tournament on a high despite their heartbreaking semi-final defeat.

After the defeat against France, right-back Achraf Hakimi maintained his optimism by writing on Twitter:

“We gave it all. The dream of a team, of a whole country, is over.

“But we have to be proud of what we have done. We fought until the last second and we leave with our heads held high.

“We will continue to try and give our all for this nation. Thanks to all Moroccans for your support.”