Mbappe scores 8th of tournament as France beats Morocco 2:0 to reach World Cup semi-final

Dominant performance in Foxborough

France controlled the quarter-final from kick-off at Gillette Stadium, holding a clear possession advantage and limiting Morocco to five total shots, only one of which was on target. The breakthrough arrived in the 60th minute when Kylian Mbappe fired a long-range strike past Yassine Bounou to make it 1:0, atoning for his 28th-minute penalty miss that the Moroccan goalkeeper had saved.

We lacked efficiency in the first half and their goalkeeper saved the penalty. We created several other chances too, but at no moment did we have any doubts. Especially Kylian.

Six minutes later Ousmane Dembele doubled the lead with a precise finish from distance after an individual run, his fifth goal of the tournament. The assist came from Mbappe, giving the 27-year-old his third of the competition.

Mbappe rewrites the record books

The match cemented Mbappe's place in World Cup history across multiple statistical categories. His goal was his 20th in World Cup finals, leaving him one behind Lionel Messi. Both players have scored eight goals in the 2026 edition, though the 39-year-old Argentine still had a quarter-final against Switzerland to play.

Mbappe became the youngest player ever to reach 20 World Cup appearances, doing so at 27 years and 201 days, breaking Wladyslaw Zmuda's mark of 28 years and 34 days. He is also the first player to score 20 World Cup goals across two different editions, having reached the same tally in Qatar four years earlier.

He is the first player since Gerd Mueller to have an involvement in 11 goals in a single World Cup edition. The legendary German striker scored 10 goals and recorded three decisive passes at the 1970 tournament in Mexico.

The France captain's contribution to the national team reached another milestone: 64 goals and 36 assists, making him the first French player involved in 100 goals for the national side.

Injury scares for Mbappe and Kone

France ended the match with two fitness concerns. Mbappe left the pitch in the 77th minute with an ice pack on his ankle after signalling discomfort, with Jean-Philippe Mateta replacing him. Midfielder Manu Kone had already been substituted six minutes earlier, with Warren Zaire-Emery coming on.

Everything is fine. I hit my ankle but it is okay. I think at that moment JP (Jean-Philippe Mateta) was better suited to playing the last quarter of an hour than me, so I came off and he came on. He showed himself in a good light, that is very positive.

Didier Deschamps provided further detail after the match, describing Mbappe's issue as only a slight ankle pain and Kone's as a knock to the knee with mild cramping. Neither injury is expected to rule either player out of the semi-final.

French media exult, Moroccan pride intact

French outlets celebrated a performance that extended the team's run of clean sheets since the group stage match against Norway. Le Parisien journalist Dominique Severac wrote that nothing can stop the team, recalling the 2:0 semi-final win over the same opponent in Qatar 2022. Eurosport France noted this is the first time France has reached a semi-final looking so untroubled, with no crisis moment across the tournament.

The match passed without major incident in Paris, where 8,000 police officers had been mobilised. The Sun reported that post-match disturbances did occur in London, where at least one police officer was hospitalised. President Emmanuel Macron added his voice to the post-match praise.

Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouahbi acknowledged the gulf in quality while urging his squad to look forward.

I told my players to keep their heads high because we gave everything. But of course we need to assess the situation, to make progress, that is essential. France are a great team. They created better chances today. We lacked ideas and freshness.

The road to 14 July

France now await the winner of Friday's quarter-final between Spain and Belgium. The semi-final will be played on Tuesday 14 July, Bastille Day, a date Deschamps described as a good one. A third consecutive World Cup semi-final appearance keeps the team on course for what would be a third star on the French shirt.

For now we are not looking beyond 14 July. That is a good date.