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France defeated Morocco 2-0 this Thursday in the quarterfinals of the , held at the Gillette Stadium in Boston, advancing to the next round with an absolutely dominant second half.
The match reached its most tense moment in the 28th minute, when Kylian Mbappé missed a penalty—awarded after a VAR review—that the Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou saved with a central and low stop.
Far from sinking, the French captain redeemed himself in the 60th minute with a field goal to open the scoring.
Six minutes later, in the 66th minute, Ousmane Dembélé sealed the match with the second goal and eliminated all chances of a comeback for the Africans.
The statistics reflect France's superiority in terms of danger: 21 shots compared to just four from Morocco, and eight on-target attempts against one from the African team.
The possession was slightly in favor of Morocco (52%-48%), but the Moroccans were unable to translate it into clear chances.
Morocco received a yellow card —for I. Diop in the 63rd minute— while France finished the match without any bookings.
Mbappé, named the best player of the match, reached eight goals in the tournament and matched Lionel Messi as the top scorer of the 2026 World Cup, in a table led by both forwards followed by Erling Haaland (seven) and Harry Kane (six).
Historically, the French forward has now scored 20 goals in World Cups, just one shy of Messi's all-time record (21), ahead of Miroslav Klose (16) and Ronaldo Nazário (15).
The result mirrors the score from the semifinal of Qatar 2022, when France also defeated Morocco 2-0, marking the first time an African team reached that stage of a World Cup.
With this victory, France secures seven consecutive wins in the tournament and will aim for their third consecutive World Cup final.
Their semifinal opponent will come from the match between Spain and Belgium, scheduled for Friday, July 10, at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, with the semifinal set for Tuesday, July 14, at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Mbappé summarized the team's moment on the field after being recognized as the best player: "We are aware of what we are playing for. We are in a World Cup semifinal. It's very important for us to continue on this path and keep performing at this level. We have taken another step forward."
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