Mbappé Magic Fires France into Third Straight World Cup Semi-Final

Khel Today Bureau 

Boston: France booked their place in the FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-finals with a commanding 2-0 victory over Morocco at Boston Stadium, as Kylian Mbappé produced another decisive performance with a goal and an assist.

The scoreline remained goalless at half-time despite France dominating the attacking exchanges. Les Bleus created 13 attempts worth 1.91 xG, while Morocco struggled to threaten, registering just 0.04 xG despite edging possession with 51%.

France had the perfect opportunity to take the lead in the 25th minute after Noussair Mazraoui brought down Mbappé inside the area. Following a lengthy VAR delay, the France captain stepped up, but his tame penalty was comfortably saved by Yassine Bounou. Lucas Digne then came agonisingly close with a long-range strike that crashed against the crossbar, while Morocco’s disciplined defence ensured the deadlock remained intact heading into the break.

Mbappé, however, made amends early in the second half. In the 60th minute, Désiré Doué found the forward just inside the box, and after cutting inside Diop, Mbappé curled a sublime finish into the far corner to finally break Morocco’s resistance.

The strike was Mbappé’s eighth goal of the tournament and the 20th World Cup goal of his career in just 20 appearances. Remarkably, 12 of those goals have now come in the knockout stages of the competition.

France doubled their advantage just six minutes later through reigning Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé. Mbappé turned provider this time, releasing Dembélé before making a clever run that dragged defenders away, allowing his teammate to curl a low effort from the edge of the area past Bounou, who could only help the ball into the bottom corner. The Frenchman got his 5th goal of the tournament.

Morocco struggled to mount a response throughout the second half, managing just one shot on target in the entire match and rarely testing Mike Maignan. France’s defensive unit once again stood firm, recording a third consecutive clean sheet and underlining why they have looked one of the tournament’s most complete sides.

France march into a third consecutive FIFA World Cup semi-final, with Mbappé once again proving the difference-maker through a goal and an assist. Les Bleus now head to Dallas to face the winner of Spain vs Belgium, carrying immense momentum and looking every bit the team to beat in this tournament. As for Morocco, their World Cup journey comes to an end, but it has been another remarkable campaign for the Atlas Lions. Falling to arguably the strongest side in the competition is nothing to be ashamed of, and they can leave with their heads held high after another inspiring run. There was also a sense of déjà vu for the Moroccans, whose dream was ended by France in the semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, with Les Bleus once again proving to be the hurdle they could not overcome.

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