Duro Ikhazuagbe
Africa’s last team standing, Morocco, finally capitulated last night as France secured their third consecutive World Cup semi final ticket in Boston.
Expectedly, irrepressible Kylian Mbappe scored the opener while Ousmane Dembélé sealed the 2-0 victory for the the French side who have confirmed their favorite tag going into the last four of the 2026 edition of the Mundial in North America.
For Mbappe, his strike was his eighth goal of this World Cup. He has now matched Lionel Messi and just one goal more than Norway’s Erling Haaland while Harry Kane to England’s Three Lions has six going into their quarterfinal fixtures this weekend.
The Frenchman is now top in the race for the Golden Boot as he has registered more assists than his former Paris St-Germain team-mate.
The two are also having a thrilling contest to see who will become the all-time World Cup top scorer, with 27-year-old Mbappe now on 20 goals compared to the record 21 from 39-year-old Messi.
Mbappe made up for an earlier missed penalty as France proved too good for Morocco and moved into the semi-finals
He won the first-half penalty when he was fouled by Manchester United defender Noussair Mazraoui, but his poorly hit spot-kick was comfortably saved by Yassine Bounou.
The Real Madrid striker made amends in the 60th minute with a superb curling effort from just inside the penalty area to give France a deserved lead.
Ballon d’Or holder Ousmane Dembele doubled France’s advantage six minutes later when he was allowed to run at the Morocco defence, with his low strike finding the net despite Bounou getting a hand to the ball.
Two-time winners France, who lost to Argentina on penalties in the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, will play Spain or Belgium in the semi-final in Dallas on Tuesday at 8pm.
QUARTER-FINALS
RESULT
France 2-0 Morocco
TODAY
Spain v Belgium (8pm)
SATURDAY
Norway v England (10pm)
SUNDAY
Argentina v Switzerland (2am)
