Bounou denies Mbappe from the spot
France booked their place in the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup on Thursday with a 2-0 win over Morocco at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The result mirrored the 2022 semi-final between the two nations, which France also won by the same margin, and it was the first of the tournament's quarter-finals. Argentine official Facundo Tello was the man in the middle.
The opening 45 minutes belonged to a moment that, at the time, looked as though it might haunt France. Kylian Mbappe stepped up to take a first-half penalty, only for Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou to guess correctly and push the effort away. According to ESPN, it was Bounou's fourth career World Cup penalty save, the joint-most of any goalkeeper on record. For all their possession, France had been unable to turn control into clear openings before the break, and the miss threatened to define a frustrating opening period.
Morocco were the more adventurous side in the early exchanges, carrying the game to France and looking to make their pressure count. What they lacked was the finish to reward it, and the longer the half wore on, the more France settled.
Mbappe strikes, then turns creator
The second half told a different story. On the hour, Mbappe collected the ball on the edge of the penalty area and bent a shot beyond Bounou into the far corner to put France in front, answering his earlier miss in emphatic fashion. Six minutes later he switched roles, laying the ball off for Ousmane Dembele to score in the 66th minute and put the tie beyond Morocco.
It was Mbappe's eighth goal of the 2026 tournament, a return that keeps him clear at the top of the race for the adidas Golden Boot. Opta Analyst reports that the France captain now has 11 goal involvements at a single World Cup, made up of eight goals and three assists, the most by any player at one edition since Gerd Muller managed the feat in 1970.
The underlying numbers reflected France's control. Opta recorded an expected-goals figure of 3.04 to 0.14 in their favour, with France out-shooting Morocco by roughly 21 attempts to four. The chances that fell their way were largely one-way traffic, and Morocco's own tally of attempts underlined how rarely they threatened after the interval. The finishing simply took time to arrive, and once it did the outcome was rarely in question.
Deschamps closes on a fitting exit
The victory carried France into their eighth World Cup semi-final, matching Brazil's all-time record, and it was a third successive appearance in the last four. FIFA data shows Les Bleus have won all six of their matches at this World Cup without needing extra time. The result also marked the 20th World Cup match win of Didier Deschamps' managerial career, keeping the departing head coach on course for a send-off to remember.
Attention now turns to Dallas, where France play their semi-final on Tuesday, 14 July. Their opponents will emerge from the meeting between Spain and Belgium, which was scheduled for 10 July in Inglewood, California.
For Morocco, the night ended their campaign at the quarter-final stage and repeated the pain of a defeat to the same opponents at the 2022 World Cup. Their lively opening ultimately counted for nothing once Mbappe found his range, and the man who had looked set to rue a missed penalty instead finished the evening as the game's defining figure.
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