France 2-0 Morocco: Goals from Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembele ensured Les Bleus reached the World Cup semi-finals, where they will face either Spain or Belgium.
France advances to the final four (Image: ANP via Getty Images)
The best Kylian Mbappe came back from a missed penalty to take France to the World Cup semi-finals. A stunning second-half goal lifted Didier Deschamps’ side out of their slump into the Boston sunset.
Morocco never really threatened and, like their semi-final encounter four years ago, lost 2-0 to France. The continued absence of star attacker Ismael Saibari was a blow to coach Mohamed Ouabi, who has struggled every time he has had the rare opportunity to attack his team.
Morocco had little time to calm down after falling behind. Six minutes later, Ousmane Dembele extended France’s lead to two points and called it a night.
Mbappe took a few blows in the closing stages, but the manager was not going to take any chances. Deschamps withdrew the player, who tied Lionel Messi with eight goals this World Cup, as a precautionary measure.
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The headline of the first half, which was a battle of attrition, was Mbappé’s penalty mistake. The Real Madrid superstar had to wait three minutes and 20 seconds for a VAR check to take place after he was scythed by Manchester United defender Nousser Mazraoui…well, no one was sure.
Mbappé, looking to repeat his success in the spotlight against Paraguay in the Round of 16, did the same but was denied. Yassin Bounou continued his impressive record when facing a penalty shootout at the World Cup, keeping him scoreless.
Of the nine penalties he faced, only two were able to get past the Moroccan goalkeeper. Bounoux also made a great save before half-time to deny Desire Douai and then hit the crossbar with Lucas Digne’s long-range shot.
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Yassin Bounou rejects Kylian Mbappé’s penalty (Image: Baptiste Fernandez/Icon Sport via Getty Images)
But Mbappe responded in style with his 20th goal in his 20th World Cup game. This feat is even more remarkable considering he is only 27 years old. Picking up the ball on the left side of the 18-yard box, Mbappé shielded Issa Diop and fired a stunning shot past a helpless Bounowou.
However, Al Hilal’s shot-stopper did have a chance to stop France’s second goal. Picking up the ball from Mbappé, who had space in front of him in the middle, Dembele moved forward and fired a low shot through the fingers of Bounou, ending Atlas Lions’ World Cup hopes.
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