SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkKylian Mbappe of France, centre,celebrates after scoring his team's first goal with Dayot Upamecano, left, and Ousmane Dembele, right, during the FIFA World Cup 2026 match [Marvin Ibo Guengoer - GES Sportfoto/Getty Images]By AFPPublished On 9 Jul 20269 Jul 2026Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele were on target as France surged past Morocco 2-0 to book their place in the World Cup semi-finals.Mbappe curled in his eighth goal of the tournament on 60 minutes on Thursday before Dembele doubled Les Bleus’ lead six minutes later to settle a clinical victory at the Gillette Stadium outside Boston.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4England’s Quansah banned for two matches after red card against Mexicolist 2 of 4FIFA World Cup 2026: Ranking the eight quarterfinalists’ chances of glorylist 3 of 4FIFA World Cup 2026: What happened to the beautiful game?list 4 of 4VIDEO: World Cup Preview: Morocco plays France in quarterfinal openerend of listThe win sends the 2018 champions into a last-four showdown against either Spain or Belgium in Arlington, Texas on Tuesday.African champions Morocco had been tipped to pose a serious threat to France’s hopes of reaching a third consecutive World Cup final.But Didier Deschamps’ men were always in control against a limited Morocco side who failed to register a single shot on goal until an 83rd minute free-kick by Azzedine Ounahi was parried away by France goalkeeper Mike Maignan.France though struggled to find a breakthrough, and missed the opportunity to take the lead on 28 minutes when Mbappe saw a penalty saved by Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.Mbappe had won the penalty after being brought down by Noussair Mazraoui but was forced to wait several minutes before being allowed to take the kick after a protracted VAR check.Morocco managed to hold out to half-time but it was always only a matter of time before France’s relentless pressure paid off.The breakthrough came on the hour mark, with Mbappe bending a brilliant right-foot shot past Bounou from the edge of the area.Paris Saint-Germain star Dembele made the game safe in the 66th minute, striding forward menacingly from midfield before steering a low finish into the bottom corner.France now await the winner of Friday’s quarter-final in Los Angeles between European champions Spain and Belgium.
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