Kylian Mbappé missed a penalty, scored one, and set up another for France to overcome Morocco and progress to the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup, Yankee Scores reports.
Entering the Pantheon
France’s Kylian Mbappe has 10+ goal involvements in each of the last two World Cups (8 goals, 2 assists in 2022, 8 goals, 3 assists in 2026) – he is the only player to have done this in two different tournaments on record (since 1966).
His 11 in 2026 are the most by a single player since Gerd Muller in 1970 (10 goals, 3 assists), per BBC Sport.
France Dominates Morocco Contest
France were on top for much of the contest and carved out a number of early chances but were repeatedly denied by Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
The African champions Morocco were seen as a real threat to France’s hopes of reaching a third straight World Cup final.
But Didier Deschamps’ side were always in control against limited Morocco who didn’t manage a single shot on target until France goalkeeper Mike Maignan palmed away an Azzedine Ounahi free-kick in the 83rd minute.
But France struggled to break through and missed a chance to go ahead in the 28th minute when Mbappe saw a penalty saved by Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
Mbappe won the penalty after being fouled by Noussair Mazraoui but had to wait several minutes to take it after a long VAR check.
Morocco fought on to half-time but it was always a question of when France’s relentless pressure would tell.
The breakthrough came on the hour when Mbappe bent a brilliant right-footed shot past Bounou from the edge of the area.
Dembele wrapped up the game in the 66th minute for Paris Saint-Germain, striding forward menacingly from midfield and guiding a low finish into the bottom corner.
Les Bleus Await Spain or Belgium
France will face the winner between Spain and Belgium to book a spot in the finals on July 19.
