Les Bleus become first team into the last four with a clinical 2-0 win in Boston — and Deschamps' farewell run rolls on

BOSTON — Kylian Mbappé recovered from a first-half penalty miss to score the goal that broke Morocco's resistance on Thursday, as France eased to a 2-0 victory to become the first nation into the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup.

For a half, the two-time champions looked like a side that might be made to pay for their profligacy. Mbappé had won a spot-kick when Manchester United defender Noussair Mazraoui brought him down, only to see his stuttered, poorly struck effort comfortably saved by Yassine Bounou. At the interval, in front of 63,811 at Boston Stadium, it was still goalless — and Morocco, chasing the semi-final place that eluded them so painfully at the same stage of narrative four years ago, could believe.

Then France did what France have done all tournament. In the 60th minute, the Real Madrid star made amends in the most emphatic fashion, curling a superb effort into the net from just inside the penalty area to give his side a lead their play deserved. Six minutes later the tie was over: Ballon d'Or holder Ousmane Dembélé was allowed to run at a retreating Moroccan defence and drilled a low strike beyond Bounou, who got a hand to the ball but could not keep it out.

The two goals — France's 15th and 16th of the tournament, more than any other side — were laid on by Désiré Doué and Mbappé respectively, and they underlined why Didier Deschamps' team began the competition ranked third in the world and remain the bookmakers' favourites to lift the trophy in New Jersey on 19 July.

Mbappé's strike carried significance well beyond the scoreline. It was his eighth goal of this World Cup, drawing him level with Lionel Messi at the top of the tournament's scoring chart — though the 27-year-old now leads the Golden Boot race outright on assists. The pair are also locked in a remarkable duel for the all-time World Cup goalscoring record: Mbappé now stands on 20 career finals goals, one behind the 21 amassed by the 39-year-old Argentine.

Dembélé's finish, meanwhile, was his fifth of the tournament, making France only the second team in the past 50 years to have two players score five or more goals at a single World Cup — after Brazil's Ronaldo and Rivaldo in 2002.

For Morocco, it was a familiar and bitter conclusion. Having captured the imagination of the football world by reaching the last four in 2022, Walid Regragui's side arrived with what BBC billed as "unfinished business" against the French. Once again, against the same opponent and at the same hurdle, that business went unfinished. They struggled to fashion clear openings once France found their rhythm, and the second goal drained the contest of its jeopardy.

"France are the best, most skilful, most dangerous attacking team in the tournament," former Scotland striker Pat Nevin said on BBC Radio 5 Live. "They have more than one threat. They have two, three, four that are capable."

Deschamps, who has confirmed this will be his final tournament in charge after 14 years, now stands two wins from a third successive World Cup final. France won the 1998 and 2018 editions and lost the 2022 final to Argentina on penalties; a repeat trip to the showpiece would burnish the claim of former midfielder Patrick Vieira, who called this "maybe one of the best" attacking generations the country has produced.

Attention turns to Dallas on Tuesday, where France will meet the winner of Friday's quarter-final between reigning European champions Spain and Belgium. On this evidence, whoever emerges will find Les Bleus a formidable obstacle indeed.