2026 World Cup: France Smoothly Defeats Morocco to Reach Semifinals

This was also the scoreline when the two teams met in the 2022 World Cup semifinals; however, unlike the difficult match four years ago in Qatar, this victory for "Les Bleus" was more straightforward, showcasing superior attacking quality and creating plenty of scoring opportunities.

In the first half alone, despite Morocco's cautious approach, France had several dangerous shots but failed to score, including a penalty kick by Kylian Mbappe that was saved by goalkeeper Yassine Bounou—the fourth penalty save by this goalkeeper in World Cup history, equaling a record set in 1966.

France maintained intense pressure in the second half, and in the 60th minute, Kylian Mbappe redeemed himself with a beautiful curler into the far corner after clever maneuvering past Morocco's defenders. Just six minutes later, 2025 Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele doubled the lead with a low shot from the edge of the box following a through ball from Mbappe. On a personal note, Mbappe moved back to the top of the Golden Boot race with eight goals (ahead of Messi on assists), while Dembele also scored his fifth goal of the tournament.

In the remaining minutes, Morocco tried to push forward but could not overpower France, creating only two chances that were not difficult enough to beat Mike Maignan, thus accepting the end of their impressive 2026 World Cup journey at the quarterfinal stage.

Despite losing to a top contender for the title, Morocco still had a successful tournament and confirmed its status as one of the ten best teams in the world, having become the first African team to reach a World Cup semifinal in Qatar four years ago. Meanwhile, France continues to show overwhelming strength against every opponent faced in this finals and will await its next opponent from the match between Spain and Belgium, which takes place nearly a day later.