France have advanced to the World Cup semi-finals after defeating Morocco 2-0 in the quarter-finals, with Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé striking after the interval to settle a hard-fought contest.
Les Bleus dominated the opening 45 minutes but struggled to break down a compact Morocco defence. Dayot Upamecano and Désiré Doué both forced saves from Yassine Bounou, while Lucas Digne struck the crossbar late in the half. The breakthrough nearly arrived before the interval when France were awarded a penalty after Mbappé was fouled in the area, but the forward’s spot-kick was saved comfortably by Bounou following a lengthy delay.
Didier Deschamps’ side maintained their composure after the restart. On the hour mark, Mbappé opened the scoring with a precise curled finish from the edge of the area, registering his eighth goal of the tournament and drawing level with Lionel Messi at the top of the scoring charts. The strike also marked Mbappé’s 20th goal in 20 World Cup appearances.
Six minutes later, Dembélé doubled the advantage, latching onto an Mbappé flick and catching Bounou out with an early shot to effectively end the contest. Morocco had emerged with greater attacking intent after half-time, yet the additional space allowed France to capitalise on the counter-attack.
Manu Koné deputised admirably for the absent Aurélien Tchouaméni in midfield, driving forward to spark several attacks before making way for Warren Zaïre-Emery. The Paris Saint-Germain teenager’s introduction marked his first appearance at a major tournament. France saw out the remainder of the match with relative comfort, securing a Bastille Day semi-final appointment against either Spain or Belgium.