France is through to the semifinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup following a convincing 2-0 win over Morocco at Boston Stadium on Thursday afternoon.
France is through to the semifinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup following a convincing 2-0 win over Morocco at Boston Stadium on Thursday afternoon.
The win was a rematch of a semifinal match between the same teams at the 2022 tournament, which France won by the same score. This performance was very professional by Didier Deschamps’ team, with France always in control and the result never in doubt. It only seemed a matter of when France would break through, not if. And France did it through two of the best players in the world in Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé.
France looks like it will be very, very hard to beat. Next up will be either Belgium or Spain, either of whom will be the underdog against Les Bleus. In the 60th minute, the game was still mired in a 0-0 draw. France still had most of the chances, but Morocco had been succeeding with one of its most important objectives in slowing the game down.
France was still vulnerable to a Morocco counterattack or a chance against the run of play. That is when Kylian Mbappé rose to the occasion and put the game away. He took a pass outside the box and hit a remarkably powerful shot from outside the box. At that moment, most forwards would have tried to bend it past the keeper.
Instead, without much of a run-up, Mbappé was able to quickly release a powerful rocket that was just inside the goal. That took a lot of resolve from Mbappé after his penalty was saved in the first half. He was not frustrated or unfocused. He was simply able to continue to play like he has been all tournament.
This goal also showed why Mbappé is such a lethal weapon for France. Morocco actually was guarding Mbappé closely, and the Real Madrid forward had very little space to shoot. But he was still able to deliver the goal that won a World Cup quarterfinal. It was unstoppable for the goalkeeper, and there was nothing else Morocco’s defenders could have done.
This is why France is very hard to beat. Mbappé’s greatness is on full display. He now has eight goals and two assists in this World Cup, which makes him even with Lionel Messi on goals. It was also just one behind Messi’s career mark of 21 World Cup goals.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, then you realize he is just 27 years old, 12 years younger than Messi. Coming into this tournament, France was one of the favorites to win this tournament, given the strength of its roster. Les Bleus had terrific odds at the World Cup despite Ousmane Dembélé’s struggles in major tournaments. Dembélé, 29, is the reigning Ballon d’Or winner but had no goals and no assists in either the World Cup or European Championships.
In fact, Dembélé only had seven career goals for France’s national team before this tournament. At this tournament, however, Dembélé is playing like the Ballon d’Or winner. In the 66th minute, Dembélé took a pass from Mbappé and beat Bono with a powerful low shot. Dembélé now has five goals and two assists in six World Cup games.
With him now firing on all cylinders, it gives France the best attack in this tournament. Norway has Erling Haaland, England has Harry Kane, and Argentina has Lionel Messi. But France has Mbappé and Dembélé both playing well, which is one of the greatest ever two-pronged attacks this tournament has ever seen. Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, also known as Bono, was immense in the first half for Morocco.
In the 28th minute, he saved Mbappé’s penalty kick at a moment when France was in total control of the game. As one of the world’s great players, Mbappé entered this game with seven goals and two assists at this World Cup. Saving that penalty against a player of his caliber was a very tall task.
But there was a long VAR wait, and it clearly bothered Mbappé, who complained to the official about the length of the VAR review afterward. But for Bono, it was a critically important moment for him to keep Morocco in the game and give his team a chance in the first half. That is all that the team could have asked.
Morocco ends this tournament one round earlier than it did in 2022, when it advanced to the World Cup semifinal before also losing to France by the same 2-0 score. Morocco was more competitive against the French in Qatar, but that is entirely due to this French team being even better now than four years ago. Morocco is no longer the underdog it was in 2022.
This is now a legitimate top 10 team in the world, and it is climbing. The signs are there. This team won the bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics behind only France and Spain. In 2025, Morocco won the U-20 World Cup.
Earlier this year, it won the African Cup of Nations . At this World Cup, the team’s only blemish before this loss to a truly great French team was a 1-1 draw with Brazil. Morocco is consistently performing extremely well at the full national team level and in major youth tournaments. That seems unlikely to change anytime soon.
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