Foxborough, Jul 10: Kylian Mbappe bounced back from a first-half penalty miss by scoring the opening goal as France defeated Morocco 2-0 to reach a third consecutive FIFA World Cup semifinal. Ousmane Dembele added the second goal to seal a comfortable victory, with France now set to face the winner of the Spain-Belgium quarterfinal.

Mbappe recovered from a first-half penalty miss to score his eighth goal of the FIFA World Cup 2026, before setting up Ousmane Dembele for his fifth goal as the two-time champions booked a last-four meeting with either Belgium or Spain.

France signalled their intent early, with Dayot Upamecano heading a fifth-minute corner straight at Yassine Bounou. After dominating possession, Les Bleus were handed a golden opportunity to take the lead when Noussair Mazraoui brought down Mbappe in the penalty area. Mbappe stepped up, but Bounou produced a fine save to send the sides in level at the break.

The breakthrough arrived on the hour mark when Mbappe curled a superb finish into the far corner from the edge of the area. The France talisman turned provider moments later, when he flicked the ball on to Ousmane Dembele, who then took advantage of his captain's run to find a shooting angle. With his right foot, he curled the ball past Bounou, who simply could not stop it before it ended up in the back of his net.

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In the process, Mbappe became the first player to be involved in at least 100 goals for the French national team (101 – 64 goals, 37 assists). Meanwhile, Dembele has become just the third French player to score five goals in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup, following Mbappe and Just Fontaine.

Didier Deschamps' side comfortably saw out the remainder to reach a third successive World Cup semi-final, following their triumph in 2018 and runners-up finish to Argentina at Qatar 2022.

"We missed a penalty and failed to convert some chances. With Kylian Mbappe, there’s no issue; he never doubts himself, even though he had a chance before he scored. We are exactly where we wanted to be. We will recover well and see who our opponent will be," said Deschamps.

(IANS)