France advances to third consecutive World Cup semifinal with 2:0 win over Morocco

Dominant first half without reward

The highlight of the opening period came in the 28th minute, when referee Facundo Tello pointed to the penalty spot following a challenge in the box. After a roughly three-minute VAR review — during which Jürgen Klopp later suspected a possible "wee break" — Mbappé stepped up and failed miserably. The Real Madrid striker struck the ball so tamely toward the right corner that Bounou was able to hold onto it.

"Der war einfach schlecht geschossen," commented former world champion Mats Hummels as a MagentaTV pundit on the incident. "Da liefen ein paar Dinge nicht rund," said coach Stale Solbakken later about the circumstances. France remained overwhelmingly on top, and Lucas Digne hammered a shot off the crossbar in first-half stoppage time (45+2).

Mbappé atones for his miss

Shortly after the restart, Désiré Doué spurned another big chance before Mbappé made amends for his earlier failure in the 60th minute. After winning the ball in midfield, Doué played the captain in, and he curled a left-footed strike from 17 meters in a slightly left-of-center position into the top right corner — his eighth goal of the tournament and the 20th World Cup goal of his career.

The strike pulled Mbappé level with Lionel Messi in the scoring charts of the tournament in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. In the all-time World Cup rankings, the Frenchman now trails the 12-year-old Argentine by just one goal. He sits second overall behind Just Fontaine (13 goals at the 1958 World Cup), who, however, had only ever appeared at a single finals.

Dembélé adds to the lead

Just six minutes after the opener, Ousmane Dembélé struck. On a counterattack, the Paris Saint-Germain forward surged half the length of the pitch, cut slightly inside, and fired a low shot from 15 meters. Bounou got his fingertips to the ball but could not prevent it from going in — it was already his fifth goal of the tournament.

France saw out the lead with authority in the closing stages. Maignan had to make his first real intervention in the 56th minute, parrying a shot from Azzedine Ounahi. Substitutes Mateta and Barcola even had chances to make it 3-0 in the 87th and 88th minutes but were denied by the impressive Bounou.

Concerns over Mbappé

There were still cause for concern on the French side: in the 77th minute, Mbappé had to come off with pain in his heel, replaced by Mateta. "Ich habe einen Schlag auf die Ferse bekommen, aber es geht mir gut," the 27-year-old said after the match. Doué was also replaced by Barcola in the 77th minute. Coach Deschamps later revealed that Mbappé had suffered not only pain but also cramps.

France has now reached the semifinals for the third time in a row — a feat last achieved by Germany (1982 to 1990) and Brazil (1994 to 2002). In the semifinal in Dallas on Tuesday, they will face either Spain or Belgium. For Morocco, which had become the first African team ever to reach the semifinals at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the tournament ended a round earlier this time.

The "Lions of the Atlas" were a long way from the sensation of Qatar 2022. "Wir spielen mit dem Messer zwischen den Zähnen," Morocco's coach had said before the match, but offensively the African champions looked largely harmless over long stretches. Their best chance of the first half was a free kick from Achraf Hakimi in the fifth minute of stoppage time, which flew well wide of the goal.

Morocco lacking offensive punch

"Frankreich war das bessere Team," was the sober conclusion after the match. Particularly bitter for Morocco: six members of their squad were born in France, including the 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi, who was born near Paris and came up through all of France's youth teams up to the U21 level. At 18 years and 280 days, Bouaddi is the second-youngest player to feature in a World Cup quarterfinal, after Pelé.

The quarterfinal exit does not amount to an across-the-board defeat for Moroccan football. "Das Aus im Viertelfinal an dieser WM ist kein Rückschritt gegenüber 2022, sondern eine Bestätigung des erreichten Niveaus," read an initial assessment. With the 2030 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Morocco, a further step forward lies in store for football in the kingdom.

Looking ahead to the semifinal

"Wir sind jetzt zum dritten Mal in Folge im Halbfinale," said France coach Didier Deschamps, who with this match drew level with Helmut Schön as the longest-serving coach in World Cup history. "Aber wir sind bereit für alles, was noch kommt." For France, it is on to Dallas on Tuesday, with a place in a third consecutive final at stake.

Mbappé himself struck an optimistic tone after the match: "Mein Knöchel hat ein wenig geschmerzt, aber es geht." During the celebrations in front of the fans, the captain was reportedly already able to jump around without any issues. Whether he will be available for the semifinal will be decided by the medical department in the coming days — the healing process around the heel and the cramps are the key concerns.

Deschamps' national team colleague added: "Das ist normal, er spielt so viele Spiele. Aber wir konnten sehr gut auswechseln." With the attacking options on the bench, the squad has enough depth to compensate for the potential absence of the superstar should he not be fit in time for the semifinal.