Kylian Mbappé misses a penalty but still gets on the scoresheet to help France become the first team to advance to the 2026 World Cup semifinals. Mbappé now has eight goals this tournament and is tied for the top goalscorer with Messi.
France 2-0 Morocco
The game started with Les Bleus in control and Morocco on the defensive. France would create a couple of good chances but their first threatening chance came in the 28th minute when Mbappé was fouled in the box by Moroccan defender Noussair Mazraoui, resulting in a penalty.
VAR spent three minutes reviewing, what most thought, a clear foul and essentially “icing the kicker.” Mbappé then played a weak shot to the right of the goal and it was an easy save for Yassine Bounou. The half ended scoreless.
At the start of the second half, Morocco had switched tactics and was spending more time in the attacking half and started to control possession. However at the 60th minute Mbappé broke through, giving the French side the lead.
After a missed clearance by the Moroccans, Adrien Rabiot headed the ball down to Désiré Doué who was able to settle the ball and play it to Mbappé in one swift move. At the top of the box, Mbappé did a stutter step to create just enough space between him and the defender to get a shot off. The ball looped just over the hands of Bounou and down into the right side netting.
Six minutes later, Ousmane Dembélé put the game to bed after a nice curling shot around the defender, off Bounou’s hand and further into the bottom right corner. It came off a solo run from Dembélé that started just past midfield and ended with his shot from the top of the box.
France advances to the semifinals where they will face the winner of Belgium vs. Spain matchup which takes place tomorrow at 3 p.m. ET.
There are still three quarterfinal matchups left. After the Belgium vs. Spain matchup, we have Norway vs. England on July 11 at 5 p.m. ET, and Argentina vs. Switzerland on July 11 at 9 p.m. ET.
As always, stay tuned to Futbolhijo.com for in-depth coverage of the biggest World Cup yet. Check back for my next article, where I will be covering matches and news that occur throughout the tournament. You can also read my previous article where I broke down Spain and Belgium’s advancements.
Photo: Kylian Mbappé – Shutterstock – user: sbonsi – ID: 2222008583
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