France beats Morocco 2–0 to advance to World Cup semifinals in Dallas

France advanced to the World Cup semifinals by defeating Morocco 2–0 on Thursday, July 9 in the quarterfinals, setting up a semifinal matchup against either Spain or Belgium on July 16 in Dallas.

Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring in the 60th minute with a precisely placed shot just inside the far post after Morocco failed to clear the ball. He extended both arms and ran to the sideline to celebrate with teammates. Ousmane Dembélé doubled the lead in the 66th minute after Mbappé took a pass and tapped it back for him, drawing defenders and opening space for Dembélé's shot.

Mbappé's goal was his 20th of his World Cup career in his 20th match at the tournament, moving him one behind Argentina captain Lionel Messi. Earlier in the match, Mbappé was taken down in the 76th minute and substituted off, then observed on the bench with an ice pack on his right ankle. After the final whistle and with both shoes on, he ran and jumped in celebration with teammates.

The match was one-sided offensively: France held a 21–4 advantage in shots on goal and 8–1 in shots on target. Mbappé's opening shot, in the 4th minute, narrowly missed wide right. In the 25th minute, he was fouled in the box by Morocco defender Noussair Mazraoui, earning a penalty. After a lengthy video review, Mbappé lined up to shoot in the 28th minute but goalkeeper Yassine Bounou guessed correctly and saved his shot toward the right corner.

Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi acknowledged the gap: "When we had ball possession, our transitions were not great and we had to run a little more. Their players were in their comfort zone."

France now remains on track to become only the third nation to reach the final of three consecutive World Cups, having previously defeated Morocco by the same 2–0 scoreline in the 2022 semifinals in Qatar.