Kylian Mbappé, France march on to the semifinals, knock out Morocco

Sport admin July 9, 2026 0 Comments

Kylian Mbappé, France march on to the semifinals, knock out Morocco

FOXBOROUGH – The Moroccan faithful, clad in their red jerseys and fez hats, left the stadium in a dejected mood Thursday after getting eliminated by France for the second straight World Cup.

For everyone else, the final match in Foxborough delivered exactly what the fans were looking for.

Star-studded France, looking to become the third nation ever to reach three straight World Cup finals, discarded of Morocco, 2-0, in Thursday’s World Cup quarterfinal. And Les Bleus did it on the backs of their world-renowned superstars, Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, who delivered the decisive goals during a six-minute blitz right before the second-half hydration break.

France, the 2018 World Cup winners and 2022 runners-up, improved to 6-0-0 this tournament, with a 16-2 goal differential. Les Bleus will face the winner of Friday’s Spain-Belgium match in the semifinals Tuesday — Bastille Day — in Arlington, Texas.

Morocco entered the match with revenge on its mind after losing to France in the semifinals four years ago, and the Moroccan fans outperformed the French in the stands, singing and dancing passionately throughout the afternoon. But on a “feels-like” day of 98 degrees, and in front of celebrities including Shakira, Noah Kahan, Jaylen Brown, and Gianni Infantino, France dominated the play on the field, outshooting the Atlas Lions, 13-1, in the first half before finally breaking through with two tallies in the second.

France arguably had an easier time against Morocco than it did in its Round of 16 match last week, a 1-0 grind of a win over Paraguay in similar upper-90s heat in Philadelphia.

Mbappé opened the scoring on the hour with a rocket from the top of the box into the upper right corner. It was Mbappé’s eighth goal of this tournament, tying Argentina’s Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot, and Mbappé’s 20th career World Cup goal in 20 matches. The goal was redemption for Mbappé, whose stutter-step penalty kick in the 25th minute wasn’t struck well and was easily saved by keeper Yassine Bounou diving to his left.

Dembélé, who recorded a hat trick in France’s first trip to Foxborough, a 4-1 win over Norway in group play, compounded Morocco’s woes with a goal in the 66th minute, his fifth of the tournament, on a shot from just outside the box.

The goals must have been welcome relief for Les Bleus, whose only goal against Paraguay came on a penalty kick by Mbappé. France didn’t score on any of its 14 shots during the run of play against Paraguay, and attempted another 15 shots against Morocco before Mbappé finally hit twine on No. 16. Dembélé then scored on No. 17.

It was a complete throttling by France, which is looking like the most complete team left in the tournament. Its offense Thursday was decisive, its defense suffocating, and goalie Mike Maignan made the few saves required when tested. With one more win, France can join West Germany (1982, ’86, ’90) and Brazil (1994, ’98, ’02) as the only nations to reach three straight finals.