Kylian Mbappé recovered from an early penalty miss to inspire France to a 2-0 victory over Morocco on Thursday, scoring once and providing an assist to send Les Bleus into the FIFA World Cup semifinals.
Ousmane Dembélé netted France’s second goal as the two-time champions secured a comfortable quarterfinal win and will now face either Spain or Belgium in Tuesday’s semifinal in Dallas.
Mbappé put France ahead in the 60th minute with his 20th career World Cup goal, moving him within one strike of Argentina captain Lionel Messi’s all-time tally. Dembélé doubled the advantage six minutes later, scoring his fifth goal of the tournament after being set up by Mbappé.
The result mirrored France’s 2-0 semifinal victory over Morocco at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where the Atlas Lions became the first African nation to reach the last four of the tournament.
France also remain in contention to become only the third country to reach three consecutive World Cup finals.
Les Bleus dominated throughout the contest, finishing with a commanding 21-4 advantage in total shots and an 8-1 edge in efforts on target.
France’s second goal came after Mbappé received a pass inside the box before cleverly laying the ball into Dembélé’s path. The forward’s continued run dragged Moroccan defenders away, creating the space Dembélé needed to fire home.
Mbappé nearly opened the scoring in the fourth minute but saw his effort drift just wide of the right post.
The France captain was then awarded a penalty in the 25th minute after being brought down by Morocco defender Noussair Mazraoui inside the area. Following an extended VAR review, referee Facundo Tello upheld the decision.
However, Mbappé failed to convert from the spot in the 28th minute as goalkeeper Yassine Bounou guessed correctly and comfortably saved the striker’s effort to his right.
The missed spot-kick was Mbappé’s second penalty attempt of the tournament after successfully converting in France’s 1-0 round-of-16 victory over Paraguay.
Despite the setback, France remained firmly in control before halftime, outshooting Morocco 13-1 during the opening 45 minutes.
Morocco’s best opportunity came moments before the break when Achraf Hakimi’s free-kick from just outside the penalty area flashed narrowly past the right post.
Mbappé’s goal also took his World Cup tally to 20 goals in 20 appearances, leaving him just one behind Messi, who has scored 21 goals in 31 World Cup matches across six tournaments after surpassing Miroslav Klose’s previous record of 16.
