Boston, 10th July 2026 –Kylian Mbappe stole the headlines once more as France defeated Morocco at Boston Stadium to reach the FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-finals.
Mbappe recovered from a first-half penalty miss to score his eighth goal of the finals, before setting up Ousmane Dembele for his fifth as the two-time champions booked a last-four meeting with either Belgium or Spain.
France signalled their intent early, with Dayot Upamecano heading a fifth-minute corner straight at Yassine Bounou.
After dominating possession, Les Bleus were handed a golden opportunity to take the lead when Noussair Mazraoui brought down Mbappe in the penalty area. The France captain stepped up, but Bounou produced a fine save to send the sides in level at the break.
The breakthrough arrived on the hour mark when Mbappe curled a superb finish into the far corner from the edge of the area. The France talisman turned provider moments later, slipping Dembele through to fire a composed finish into the bottom corner.
Didier Deschamps’ side comfortably saw out the remainder to reach a third successive World Cup semi-final, following their triumph in 2018 and runners-up finish to Argentina at Qatar 2022.
Kylian Mbappe has scored in five of France’ six matches en route to the last four, and currently leads the race for the adidas Golden Boot.
Only Lionel Messi has more World Cup goals (21) than Mbappe (20).
Ousmane Dembele has become just the third French player to score five goals in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup, following Mbappe and Just Fontaine.
At the age of 18 years and 280 days, Ayyoub Bouaddi is the first player to make five World Cup appearances as a teenager for an African team. (FIFA)
