Kylian Mbappe delivered a masterclass in resilience as France overcame a first-half setback to defeat Morocco 2-0 and advance to the World Cup 2026 semi-finals at Boston Stadium.

The Real Madrid forward was brought down by Noussair Mazraoui for a 25th-minute penalty, but after an unusually long delay, his weakly struck effort was comfortably saved by Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.

Undeterred, Mbappe produced a moment of magic after the break, curling a magnificent strike into the far corner to open the scoring on the hour mark. He then turned provider, laying the ball off for Ousmane Dembele, whose shot found the bottom corner despite a late touch from Bounou.

The victory sets up a semi-final clash for Les Bleus against either Spain or Belgium next week, as Les Bleus will be aiming to reach the final again, for the third time in a row.

Mbappe saw an early long-range drive turned behind, while Dayot Upamecano had a header repelled from the resulting corner. Despite their control, they were unable to break through before halftime. Bounou also denied Désiré Doué, and Lucas Digne struck the crossbar with a dipping 35-yard effort. Morocco, meanwhile, offered little going forward in the opening 45 minutes.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 60th minute when Doue threaded a clever pass through the legs of Neil El Aynaoui, allowing Mbappe to open his body and whip an inch-perfect curler past Bounou from the edge of the box.

The France forward joins Messi in Historic Company

Mbappe’s goal brought him level with Lionel Messi in the race for the 2026 Golden Boot and moved him to within one of the Argentine’s all-time World Cup record of 21 goals. This tournament now marks the first in which two players have reached eight or more goals.

Morocco showed late signs of life with an El Aynaoui header flashing wide, but a comeback was never realistic. Bradley Barcola nearly added a third for France in stoppage time.

Spain are set to take on Belgium on Friday in the next quarterfinal, while on Saturday there are two matches. England will take on Norway in the first match, whereas Argentina play Switzerland in the final match.