France Overcomes Mbappé's Penalty Blunder to Reach World Cup Semifinals

In a match marked by a spectacular opener following a penalty miss, Kylian Mbappé propelled tournament favorites France into the semifinals as the first team to advance.

After a beautiful curling shot from their star striker, the French ensemble of stars defeated African champions Morocco 2-0 in a one-sided affair. France is now poised to make history, keeping their dream of a third World Cup title alive after triumphs in 1998 and 2018.

Despite their overwhelming dominance, the French had to wait a long time for their breakthrough, partly due to Mbappé's penalty being saved by Yassine Bounou in the 28th minute. The prolific scorer made amends for his miss with the decisive opening goal an hour into the match (60th minute). He followed this with a dream goal from the edge of the box, marking his eighth tournament goal and his 20th in his 20th World Cup appearance. Ousmane Dembélé then sealed the victory with his fifth tournament goal, making it 2-0 (66th minute).

Morocco's defensive strategy, often referred to as 'parking the bus', only proved effective for an hour in this rematch of the 2022 World Cup semifinal (which France also won 2-0). French attackers repeatedly found themselves thwarted by Bounou. Mbappé's best chance for an earlier lead was his penalty, which he struck directly into the goalkeeper's arms. Nevertheless, Les Bleus celebrated a victory in Foxborough, the site of Germany's World Cup downfall against Paraguay.

However, there were also concerning signs for the French team: Mbappé had to be substituted in the 77th minute, and his ankle later required ice treatment.

In the semifinals, Didier Deschamps' squad will face Spain or Belgium on Tuesday (9:00 PM CEST) in Dallas. A victory would send them to their third consecutive World Cup final, a feat previously only achieved by Germany (1982-1990) and Brazil (1994-2002).

For Morocco, their encounter with their own history turned into a nightmare. Instead of reaching the final four for the second consecutive time, their hopes of a first World Cup triumph by an African team were once again dashed by France. Ironically, it was against the former colonial power, the country where six players from the current Moroccan squad were born. With the 'Atlas Lions' exiting the competition, the last African team has been eliminated.

Morocco received bad news before kickoff: Bayern's star signing Ismael Saibari's participation in the showdown against France was too soon. Saibari had led his team to the Round of 16 with three goals, but a muscle injury sustained in the previous match (a 3-0 win against Canada) made him unavailable to start. For France, midfield star Aurélien Tchouaméni, who missed the previous match, was initially on the bench.

Mbappé Scores a Dream Goal After Penalty Miss

Even though Morocco's coach, Ouahbi, tried to ignite the pre-match atmosphere with strong words ('We are playing with a knife between our teeth') – the first half belonged entirely to the Tricolore. Mbappé first unleashed a warning shot from about 18 yards, and from the subsequent corner, the completely unmarked Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano headed the ball too centrally from four yards out (4th minute).

And Morocco? They were largely ineffective offensively at Gillette Stadium in Boston. All eleven players stayed extremely deep, waiting for counter-attacking opportunities in only the second competitive meeting between the two teams – but these never materialized. On the contrary, France remained dangerous, not just from the penalty awarded after a foul by former Munich player Noussair Mazraoui. Dembélé missed the target with a curling shot (33rd minute), and shortly after, Désiré Doué also found Bounou in his path after a fine dribble (35th minute). In first-half stoppage time, the Moroccan goalkeeper tipped a long-range shot from Lucas Digne onto the crossbar (45+2).

Speaking of Bounou. With the saved penalty against Mbappé, the goalkeeper further improved his impressive record. Out of nine penalties faced (including shootouts) at World Cups, Bounou has only conceded two goals. But it was all in vain. Bounou made another brilliant save against Doué (55th minute), but then Mbappé scored his dream goal.