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Kylian Mbappe scored his 20th World Cup goal and set up a second for Ousmane Dembele as France defeated Morocco 2-0 Thursday night at Gillette Stadium, booking their place in the 2026 World Cup semi-finals in a rematch of their 2022 Qatar showdown that ended identically.
The result, achieved before a capacity crowd at the home of the New England Patriots, sends Didier Deschamps' side into the final four for a third consecutive tournament, a feat only Germany and Brazil have managed. For Morocco, it marked a second straight quarter-final exit at the hands of France after their defeat in Doha four years ago.
France's captain had endured a difficult evening before the match turned. His penalty, awarded in the 25th minute after Noussair Mazraoui brought him down in the area, was saved by Yassine Bounou diving to his left. A VAR review had stretched the wait between the award and the kick to more than three minutes, and Mbappe's tame effort gave Bounou little trouble.
He also blazed over with only the goalkeeper to beat in the 56th minute, though an offside flag spared his blushes. Yet when the moment came, Mbappe delivered. In the 60th minute, receiving a pass from 20-year-old Desire Doue, he bent a right-footed shot from the left side of the box around Issa Diop and into the far corner.
Six minutes later he turned provider, feeding Dembele into space. The winger's curling low effort from the edge of the box crept inside the bottom corner, with Bounou getting a hand to it but unable to keep it out.
The double assist brought Mbappe's World Cup tally to 20 goals in 20 appearances, drawing him within one of Lionel Messi's all-time record. He also surpassed Just Fontaine's mark of 13 goals for France at the finals, set entirely during the 1958 tournament in Sweden. In a further statistical milestone, the 27-year-old became the youngest player ever to make 20 World Cup appearances, at 27 years and 201 days, eclipsing Poland's Wladislaw Zmuda, while also overtaking Deschamps himself as France's ninth most-capped player outright with 104 appearances.
Mbappe was later substituted in the 77th minute, with the coaching staff citing an injury, though the timing equally reflected Deschamps protecting his captain ahead of the semi-finals.
The first half belonged largely to France in terms of attacking intent, with Les Bleus generating an expected goals figure of 1.87 from 13 attempts, compared to just 0.05 for Morocco. Yet the Atlas Lions frustrated their opponents with disciplined defending, and goalkeeper Bounou made a string of important interventions to keep the scoreline level.
Among the first-half highlights, Lucas Digne struck the crossbar from distance in added time, while Dayot Upamecano headed straight at Bounou from close range when unmarked in the six-yard area. Bounou's penalty save meant the sides went into the interval level.
Morocco had their moments. Achraf Hakimi dragged a late first-half free-kick wide after Adrien Rabiot was penalised for handball on the edge of the box. In the second half, Azzedine Ounahi tested Maignan from distance and a corner from Hakimi struck the side-netting off Neil El Aynaoui's header. But Morocco's overall attacking threat, an xG of just 0.05 at the break, told its own story.
Brahim Diaz, Morocco's most creative presence operating as a false nine, was substituted in the 74th minute having been unable to stamp his authority on the contest.
For Deschamps, who has announced he will leave the France job at the end of this tournament, the win was also a personal landmark. He drew level with Germany's Helmut Schon for the most matches overseen as a head coach at the World Cup, reaching 25.
Morocco had entered the game under coach Mohamed Ouahbi, who achieved a notable footnote of his own last year, guiding the Atlas Lions to Under-20 World Cup glory in Chile, where they eliminated France on penalties in the semi-finals. Wednesday's result reversed that outcome on the senior stage.
In goal for Morocco, Bounou's performance was nonetheless impressive. His penalty save Wednesday brought his career World Cup penalty record to four saves from nine faced, equalling the record for most spot-kicks stopped at the finals since 1966.
At 18 years and 280 days, Morocco's Ayyoub Bouaddi became the second-youngest player to appear in a World Cup quarter-final, behind only Pele, who played for Brazil against Wales in 1958 at 17 years and 239 days.
Argentina's Facundo Tello refereed the match, having also overseen Morocco's quarter-final victory over Portugal in Qatar four years ago.
France will advance to the semi-finals, where they will aim to go one step further than 2022, when they lost to Argentina in the final.
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