Kylian Mbappe recovered from a saved first-half penalty to score a brilliant curling opener as France beat Morocco 2-0 in their World Cup quarter-final on Thursday, sending Les Bleus through to the semi-finals for a third straight tournament.
Mbappe’s spot-kick was easily stopped by goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, but he made amends on the hour mark with a superb finish that put France 1-0 up, his eighth goal of the tournament, drawing him level again with Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot. He was substituted late on, watching the closing minutes with an ice pack wrapped around his right ankle, but not before setting up Ousmane Dembele to seal the win in front of 63,811 fans at Gillette Stadium.
The result repeats the outcome of France’s 2022 meeting with Morocco, though that one came in the semi-finals rather than the quarters. This time the win sends France through to face either Spain or Belgium in Dallas next Tuesday, as they chase a third consecutive World Cup final in what will be long-serving coach Didier Deschamps’ last tournament in charge. Winners in 2018 and runners-up in 2022, France once again looked comfortably the stronger side, with Morocco missing the injured Ismael Saibari and lacking the firepower to trouble them consistently.
Mbappe’s penalty arrived after he was scythed down by Noussair Mazraoui in the box in the 25th minute, following a VAR review that first ruled out a separate foul on Moroccan captain Achraf Hakimi in the buildup. The delay may have played on his mind, his spot-kick was uncharacteristically tame and comfortably saved, a rare reminder that even one of the era’s most prolific scorers isn’t immune to nerves, in the same tournament where Messi himself has missed two penalties. Bounou was excellent throughout the first half, at one point tipping a Desire Doue effort around the post after Ayyoub Bouaddi was dispossessed, while Lucas Digne crashed a long-range effort off the crossbar as the sides went in level at the break.
France’s pressure finally told 15 minutes into the second half. Doue slipped the ball to Mbappe just outside the box, and he controlled it before using Issa Diop as a screen to curl a brilliant strike into the net, his 20th World Cup goal in 20 appearances, leaving him just one behind Messi’s all-time tournament record of 21 and pushing his overall international tally to 64 goals in 104 caps. He turned provider in the 66th minute, laying the ball off for Dembele to run through and curl a low finish into the same corner, beyond a despairing hand from Bounou.
Dembele, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, now has five goals at this World Cup, but it was Mbappe, as has so often been the case, who took the headlines. Morocco, despite the defeat, showed enough in patches, and with young talents like Bouaddi still developing, they’ll look ahead to co-hosting the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal as their next opportunity to go further.
