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France advanced to the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup 2026 with a 2-0 victory over Morocco on Thursday, as captain Kylian Mbappe recovered from a first-half penalty miss to inspire his side before a packed crowd in Boston.
The defeat also ended Africa’s representation in the tournament.
Mbappe opened the scoring in the 60th minute before setting up Ousmane Dembele six minutes later, sending the two-time champions into the last four, where they will face the winner of Friday’s quarterfinal between Spain and Belgium.
The France captain joined Argentina’s Lionel Messi at the top of the tournament’s Golden Boot standings with eight goals. Like Messi, who missed a penalty against Egypt in the Round of 16 before scoring later in the match, Mbappe rebounded from a missed spot kick to make a decisive contribution.
After earning a penalty when he was brought down inside the box, Mbappe was denied by Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou. He responded in the second half with a curling finish from the edge of the penalty area for his 20th goal in 20 World Cup appearances. Messi, by comparison, has scored 21 goals in 31 World Cup matches.
Mbappe’s eighth goal of the tournament was followed by an assist for Dembele, whose composed finish in the 66th minute sealed France’s victory.
France showed attacking intent from the opening minutes when Dayot Upamecano headed a fifth-minute corner directly at Bounou. The French controlled possession for much of the first half and earned a penalty after Noussair Mazraoui fouled Mbappe in the area, but Bounou’s save kept Morocco level heading into halftime.
The breakthrough finally came on the hour mark as Mbappe curled a shot into the far corner. Moments later, he slipped a pass through to Dembele, who finished clinically to double France’s lead.
France comfortably saw out the remainder of the match to reach its third consecutive World Cup semifinal, following its title-winning campaign in 2018 and runner-up finish to Argentina in Qatar four years later.
Mbappe was substituted with 13 minutes remaining after signaling toward the bench and sitting on the field while Morocco was in possession. Although he did not appear to be in significant discomfort, he received treatment on his right leg before leaving the field to applause from the crowd. He was later seen with ice on his right foot but joined his teammates in celebrating after the final whistle.
The victory sends France into the semifinals, where it will play either Spain or Belgium.
Defending champion Argentina remains the only non-European team left in the tournament. Argentina faces Belgium in the quarterfinals, while England takes on Norway in the other last-eight matchup.
France has once again demonstrated why it is considered one of the tournament favorites. With pace and quality in attack, Les Bleus become particularly dangerous once they take the lead, forcing opponents to push forward and leaving space for their forwards to exploit.
That pattern unfolded against Morocco as Mbappe’s opener forced the North Africans to chase the game before Dembele capitalized on a swift counterattack to secure the result.
While Spain, England and Argentina possess the attacking quality to test France more severely, the French squad continues to be regarded as one of the strongest and deepest in the tournament. However, knockout football has repeatedly shown that even the strongest teams can see their campaigns change in a matter of minutes.
“It’s good, it was a tough match. Today, we missed a penalty and failed to convert some chances. With Kylian [Mbappe], there’s no issue, he never doubts himself, even though he had a chance before he scored. We are exactly where we wanted to be. We will recover well and see who our opponent will be. I imagine there’s a lot of excitement and passion in France. Here, we are in our own bubble, and I am even more so. That’s what we’re here for, and the players have a duty to do everything they can to go as far as possible. We’ve cleared a major hurdle,” said Didier Deschamps, France head coach.
“We have to admit we faced a very good opponent. We struggled a lot in the first half, and Bounou’s penalty save kept us in the game. We defended better in the second half and were calmer in possession. In the end, it was an individual piece of brilliance from Mbappe. It was a difficult feeling, but we have to keep working. We need more options on the bench when we have injuries, absences and fatigue, but of course we’re disappointed.
“The future will be bright if we continue like this, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t want to win today. Of course we wanted to win today. We did everything we could to win, but we faced a very difficult opponent. It’s a disappointment, of course, but we’ll keep working for the future. We know we represent more than just one country. We represent the Moroccan people, and many countries across Asia and Africa. Many people see themselves in this team, and we’ll keep working to win titles in the future,” said Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouahbi.
“I took a knock to the ankle, but I’m fine. At that point, JP [Jean-Philippe Mateta] was in better shape than I was to play the final minutes. The secret to this France team? There’s only one way to relax, and that’s by winning. Until we’ve done that, we don’t let up. We’re in the semi-finals and we’re very happy, but there’s still a long way to go. We realize that what lies ahead is even tougher than what we’ve been through, but we’re ready to face anything,” said Mbappe after the match.
“We’re very happy. We were really focused on this match. This is my third World Cup semi-final with the French team. It’s pure joy, pure pleasure. We’re going to stay focused on what’s coming next. Two or three minutes before my goal, Kylian Mbappe] told me to stay central. He made a great run that opened up the path for me. I really wanted to get the shot on target and see it go in. I’m happy,” said Dembele following the victory.
