Appearing in their 10th World Cup quarterfinal, two-time champions France have now progressed to a third straight semi-final following their 2-0 win vs. Morocco.
The first major action of the match came in the 25th minute. Noussair Mazraoui brought down Kylian Mbappe in the area, but another angle showed that the French star may have been the one to initiate the contact. After a lengthy VAR review, Mbappe stepped up to the spot, but his effort was saved by the Moroccan keeper. Yassine Bounou guessed correctly as he got down to his left to save Mbappe’s penalty. The Real Madrid striker might put some blame on the delay, as there were over three minutes between the penalty being awarded and him taking the kick.
While Morocco did look better from an attacking perspective to start the second half, France were still the more threatening side. With the clock ticking, it was Mbappe who stepped up to the moment, with his consistent attacking threat finally paying off. Désiré Doué played the ball from out wide, and Mbappe received it well before bending his shot around Issa Diop into the far corner. It was a wonderful finish, and Mbappe’s 8th goal of the World Cup.
Just six minutes passed before France were able to double their lead. Mbappe played Ousmane Dembele into space, and his clever run made way for the PSG forward to run into space. He fired the shot from the edge of the box, with Bounou’s touch only pushing the well-hit attempt into the bottom corner.
Like their encounter in the semi-finals 1,303 days ago in Qatar, France defeated Morocco with a 2-0 scoreline. Next up for France is a semifinal matchup against Spain or Belgium on Tuesday, July 14, at Dallas Stadium.
