France beats Morocco 2-0 to reach third straight World Cup semifinal; Mbappé reassures over ankle knock

Match recap

France secured a 2-0 victory over Morocco in the World Cup quarterfinal at Gillette Stadium in Boston on July 9. Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring in the 60th minute with a curling right-footed shot from outside the box, redeeming himself after Yassine Bounou saved his 28th-minute penalty. Ousmane Dembélé doubled the lead six minutes later with a low drive that the Moroccan goalkeeper might have handled better.

Mbappé injury update

Mbappé, the tournament's top scorer with eight goals and three assists, was substituted in the 77th minute after a heavy challenge from Issa Diop, who was booked for the tackle. The France captain sat on the pitch unable to rise, then left to an ovation with an ice pack on his right ankle. Speaking to M6 afterward, he said, "I'm fine, I took a knock to the ankle. At that moment, JP (Mateta) was more fit than me to play the last fifteen minutes."

Kylian, it's the ankle. He felt a little pain. But it's normal, the matches are coming thick and fast.

Discipline relief

Michael Olise, Manu Koné and Bradley Barcola entered the match one yellow card away from a semifinal suspension after being booked against Paraguay in the round of 16. None of the three were cautioned by Argentine referee Facundo Tello, who issued only one yellow card all evening, to Morocco's Issa Diop. Under tournament rules, yellow cards are wiped after the quarterfinals, so all three are clear for the next round.

What's next

France will face either Spain or Belgium in the semifinal on July 14 in Dallas. Deschamps, whose side is aiming for a third straight final, told M6: "It's good to be in three consecutive World Cup semifinals. Today it was complicated, but it's great, we are where we wanted to be." Mbappé added, "We are ready for anything. There is still a long way to go."