FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — France needed almost exactly as much patience as it did four years ago. Les Bleus defeated Morocco 2-0 at the Foxborough sending Didier Deschamps' side to a third consecutive World Cup semifinal and reproducing the identical scoreline from the two nations' 2022 semifinal in Qatar.
A Penalty Nobody Expected Him to Miss
Kylian Mbappé put France ahead in the 60th minute and set up Ousmane Dembélé six minutes later, but Thursday's real drama started long before that. In the 25th minute, defender Noussair Mazraoui brought Mbappé down inside the box, and referee Facundo Tello immediately pointed to the spot — a call that then sat under video review for more than three minutes before Mbappé was finally allowed to shoot. Whatever the delay did to his rhythm, goalkeeper Yassine Bounou guessed correctly and turned the effort away, ending a run of 15 straight converted penalties for the French captain with the national team and handing him his first missed spot kick at a World Cup.
Bounou Stands Tall — For a While
Nothing separated the two sides for the rest of the half despite France pouring forward. Désiré Doué had a low effort turned aside, Dayot Upamecano's header off a corner was gathered safely, and Lucas Digne's long-range drive deep in first-half stoppage time came back off the crossbar after Bounou got a hand to it. Morocco, meanwhile, offered little beyond an off-target free kick from captain Achraf Hakimi right before the break — its only attempt of the opening 45 minutes.
The Dam Breaks After the Restart
Mbappé created the breakthrough himself early in the second half: taking a pass from Doué, he shifted the ball past centre-back Issa Diop and beat Bounou with a bending strike from just outside the box — his eighth goal of the tournament, pulling him level with Lionel Messi atop this year's Golden Boot standings. Six minutes later he turned playmaker, driving at Morocco's back line before slipping a pass through to Dembélé, who finished for his fifth goal of the tournament. Morocco's only real second-half answer came from distance — an 83rd-minute strike from Azzedine Ounahi that goalkeeper Mike Maignan kept out, the Atlas Lions' first shot on target of the entire match. At the other end, substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta nearly made it three deep into stoppage time before Bounou blocked with an outstretched leg.
Mbappé didn't see the finish. He was substituted in the 77th minute after a knock to his right ankle, and sat out the rest of the match with ice taped around the joint — though he was dancing with teammates by full time and downplayed the injury afterward: "I'm completely fine," he said.
By the Numbers, It Wasn't Close
France finished with 22 total attempts to Morocco's five and an 8-1 edge in shots on target, per FIFA's official match statistics. The expected-goals gap was even starker: France generated 3.04 expected goals to Morocco's 0.14, more than a 20-to-1 disparity that undersells just how comfortable a "2-0" actually was.
What Made France Click
The through-line wasn't one moment of individual brilliance — it was constant rotation among Mbappé, Dembélé, and Doué, each drifting inside or wide until Morocco's back four lost its shape. That's been the pattern for Les Bleus all tournament, arriving at the quarterfinal off a run of matches decided by interchangeable attackers rather than a single focal striker. What was different Thursday was the wait: an attack that had usually broken through early needed 60 minutes and a missed penalty before its overwhelming shot count actually produced goals.
Where France Can Still Be Caught
That slow start doubles as a warning sign. Les Bleus generate mountains of chances but aren't always efficient converting them early, and can visibly relax once comfortable — Morocco's two best openings of the night both came after France had already gone two goals up and eased off. A sharper semifinal opponent might make that window count for something.
Morocco's Missing Piece — and a Complicated Kind of Champion
The Atlas Lions were already without injured forward Ismael Saibari, their tournament's leading scorer, and it showed — five shots and a single one on target across 90 minutes won't worry many teams left in the competition. Morocco's defense, and Bounou in particular, kept the scoreline within reach, but fans hoping for a repeat of the 2022 run will want a more direct route to goal the next time possession is actually won.
Deschamps, whose contract runs out at the end of July and who could be nearing the finish of his own tenure regardless of what happens from here, had warned before kickoff not to underestimate the challenge, saying flatly: "Morocco's profile is not Paraguay's," a nod to the tougher test he expected from a side he described as reigning African champions.
That description comes with an asterisk worth knowing about. Morocco actually lost the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final 1-0 to Senegal on January 18, in extra time, on the pitch, in front of its own supporters. Two months later, the Confederation of African Football's appeal board ruled that Senegal had forfeited the match because several of its players briefly left the field to protest a disputed stoppage-time penalty call — converting the result into a 3-0 win, and the trophy, for the hosts. Senegal is still contesting that ruling before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and no final decision has been publicly announced. Morocco is the officially recognized African champion heading into this World Cup — but it's a title settled in an appeal room rather than won outright on the field, a detail that's easy to lose in a passing reference to "AFCON champions."
Who Scores Next
Mbappé, now tied atop the tournament's scoring charts, and Dembélé, riding his own hot streak, look like the two likeliest names on the scoresheet in the semifinal, with Michael Olise and Doué as deeper supporting threats. Mateta's late chance also suggests Deschamps has a trustworthy option off the bench if the next match needs freshening up late.
A Different Identity Than Its Rivals
France's approach on nights like this leans on speed in transition and clearly defined passing lanes, a contrast both to the patient, possession-first buildup common across much of elite European football and to the dribbling-heavy, improvisational rhythm associated with the South American game. Les Bleus look to win the ball back high up the pitch, get vertical quickly, and let their attackers combine in tight spaces rather than string together long passing sequences — a direct, high-tempo identity that has now carried this group to three straight semifinals.
Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi, for his part, wasn't ready to let the rivalry go after a second straight tournament exit at France's hands, vowing his team would look to "eliminate France in four years' time."
What's Next
France will learn its semifinal opponent once Spain and Belgium finish their own quarterfinal, with a place in the World Cup final on the line. A win in the next round would put Les Bleus in position to become just the third nation ever — after Brazil and Germany — to reach three straight World Cup semifinals.
