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France continued its march towards the World Cup final with what turned out to be a pretty straightforward quarterfinal against Morocco.
Goals from Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé wrapped up a 2-0 win as Les Bleus go through to the semifinals, where they will play either Spain or Belgium.
Morocco barely laid a glove on their opponents, bringing to an end a campaign that had promised so much.
It’s easy to forget that in getting this far, the Atlas Lions became the first African team to qualify for the quarter-finals in successive World Cups but that’ll be little consolation to Mohamed Ouahbi’s side who had hoped to build on their stunning 2022 campaign.
They depart the competition as Africa’s last remaining representative but there’s no denying that the future of the game in the country looks bright.
The investment and buy-in from the government is there, their talented youngsters will only continue to grow in maturity and stature in the coming years and with the North Africans co-hosting the 2030 edition of the tournament, the prospects bode well.
The first half lacked thrilling moments as Morocco sat back to defend with low intensity in attack. The opening chance came from Mbappe drawing a penalty in the 28th minute.
Makeshift center-back Noussair Mazraoui clearly clipped Mbappe in the box, but a lengthy VAR review appeared to make an impact on the French star’s build up to the kick. After a stutter-step run up, veteran goalie Yassine Bounou had little issues saving the rather weak attempt.
There were three minutes and 11 seconds between Mbappe winning the penalty and taking it, according to stat provider Opta Analyst.
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In the 34th minute, left winger Desire Doue stripped 18-year-old midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi in a dangerous spot. Doue drove all the way into the box, but his shot was too low and close to Bounou, who got a touch to put it wide.
Left-back Lucas Digne then tried to beat Bounou with a powerful kick from long range in added time, but it hit the crossbar and slightly went off the goalie’s fingers. It was given as a goal kick.
France went into the interval with three big chances and 1.87 expected goals, per data-tracking platform FotMob. But it was emptyhanded. Morocco, for comparison’s sake, had just 0.04 after right-back Achraf Hakimi missed a free kick for the team’s first shot in added time.
The breakthrough eventually came for France at the hour mark. And it was a fitting source.
Mbappe scored his eighth goal of the 2026 tournament on a wonderful curler in traffic, with Bounou’s outstretched hands having no chance. Handball appeals by Morocco were unsuccessful.
Dembele quickly made it 2-0 just six minutes later as Morocco opened up more in attack. On a quick transition, Mbappe laid it off to the two-footed Dembele. The reigning Ballon d’Or winner then cut the ball onto his “weaker” right foot and slotted home to the bottom right corner.
Bounou’s touch wasn’t enough to push it wide.
Mbappe then came out in the 77th minute with what appeared to be a precaution as he went down with a knock. He walked off and waved to the fans for a standing ovation.
France held onto win from there as Morocco just didn’t have enough threat.
