France ended Morocco’s World Cup run with a controlled 2-0 victory in the quarter-finals at Boston Stadium on Thursday, July 9th, to become the last nation to advance and send the Atlas Lions home as the final team eliminated from FIFA World Cup 2026.
It was a repeat of the 2022 semi-final, where France also beat Morocco 2-0. This time, Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé struck in the second half to fire Les Bleus into a third consecutive World Cup semi-final.
Morocco held firm in the first half and even denied France from the spot in the 28th minute when goalkeeper Yassine Bounou saved Mbappé’s penalty. But France’s pressure told after the break.
Mbappé broke the deadlock in the 60th minute, curling a brilliant right-footed shot past Bounou for his 8th goal of the tournament – tying him with Lionel Messi in the Golden Boot race. Six minutes later, Mbappé turned provider, slipping the ball to Dembélé who fired home from outside the box to make it 2-0.
The win keeps France on track to become only the third nation to reach three straight World Cup finals. They’ve now posted three straight clean sheets in the knockout stage.
For Morocco, the defeat ends a historic campaign. The Atlas Lions were the last African team remaining after nine of 10 African qualifiers reached the knockout phase. Their 35-game unbeaten run was also snapped. They were without key forward Ismael Saibari and managed just one shot on target all game.
France will face Spain in the semi-final on Tuesday, July 14th at AT&T Stadium in Arlington,