Kylian Mbappe stole the headlines once more as France defeated Morocco 2-0 at Boston Stadium to reach the FIFA World Cup 2026™ semi-finals.
Mbappe recovered from a first-half penalty miss to score his eighth goal of the finals, before setting up Ousmane Dembele for his fifth as the two-time champions booked a last-four meeting with either Belgium or Spain.
France signalled their intent early, with Dayot Upamecano heading a fifth-minute corner straight at Yassine Bounou.
After dominating possession, Les Bleus were handed a golden opportunity to take the lead when Noussair Mazraoui brought down Mbappe in the penalty area. The France captain stepped up, but Bounou produced a fine save to send the sides in level at the break.
The breakthrough arrived on the hour mark when Mbappe curled a superb finish into the far corner from the edge of the area. The France talisman turned provider moments later, slipping Dembele through to fire a composed finish into the bottom corner.
Didier Deschamps’ side comfortably saw out the remainder to reach a third successive World Cup semi-final, following their triumph in 2018 and runners-up finish to Argentina at Qatar 2022.
Key stats
• Kylian Mbappe has scored in five of France’ six matches en route to the last four, and currently leads the race for the adidas Golden Boot.
• Only Lionel Messi has more World Cup goals (21) than Mbappe (20).
• Ousmane Dembele has become just the third French player to score five goals in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup, following Mbappe and Just Fontaine.
• At the age of 18 years and 280 days, Ayyoub Bouaddi is the first player to make five World Cup appearances as a teenager for an African team.
