France booked a place in the FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-finals on Thursday, defeating Morocco 2-0 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, outside Boston, in the first quarter-final of the tournament. Kylian Mbappe struck on the hour mark and Ousmane Dembele added a second six minutes later to end the run of the last African nation left in the competition.
The fixture was a rematch of the 2022 semi-final in Qatar, which France also won by the same 2-0 margin. Morocco had arrived in Massachusetts on the back of a commanding round-of-16 victory over Canada and carried the hopes of an entire continent, while the reigning finalists extended a perfect campaign that has now produced six wins from six matches, the only team in the tournament to have won every game without needing extra time.
France should have led far earlier. Mbappe was brought down inside the area by Noussair Mazraoui in the 25th minute, but the captain sent his 28th-minute penalty within reach of Yassine Bounou, who dived low to his left and pushed the ball clear. The save briefly lifted a Moroccan side that had been pinned back throughout the opening period, during which France registered 13 attempts to their opponents one.
The breakthrough finally arrived in the 60th minute, when Mbappe cut inside and curled a left-footed effort into the far corner beyond Bounou. Six minutes later he turned provider, releasing Dembele for the forward's fifth goal of the tournament. In a contest overseen by Argentine referee Facundo Tello, Morocco did not force a save until the 83rd minute, when an Azzedine Ounahi free-kick was parried away by Mike Maignan. France finished with 21 attempts to four, eight of them on target against a single effort from their opponents.
The result reshaped the race for the Golden Boot. Mbappe's goal was his eighth of the finals, drawing him level with Lionel Messi, but the France captain moved ahead on the tiebreaker with three assists to the Argentine's one. It was also his 20th World Cup goal in total, leaving him a single strike behind Messi, who leads the all-time list on 21.
France now travel to Arlington, Texas, where they will meet the winner of Friday's quarter-final between Spain and Belgium in Tuesday's semi-final. Victory there would carry Didier Deschamps' side to a third consecutive World Cup final, a feat achieved by only two nations in the history of the competition. Morocco depart having reached at least the quarter-finals at two successive World Cups, a run without precedent for an African team.
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