France booked their place in the FIFA World Cup 2026 semifinals with a commanding 2-0 victory over Morocco, inspired by goals from Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele.
Mbappe opened the scoring in the 60th minute with his eighth goal of the tournament, curling a superb strike into the net before Dembele sealed the win just six minutes later with a composed finish at Gillette Stadium near Boston.
The victory sends the 2018 world champions into the semifinals, where they will face the winner of the quarterfinal between Spain and Belgium in Arlington, Texas.
Morocco, the reigning African champions, were expected to challenge France but struggled to threaten throughout the match, failing to register a shot on target until the 83rd minute when Azzedine Ounahi’s free-kick was pushed away by goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
France dominated possession but missed an early opportunity to take the lead after Mbappe’s 28th-minute penalty was saved by Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou. The spot-kick was awarded after Noussair Mazraoui fouled the French captain, with a lengthy VAR review delaying the attempt.
The breakthrough finally arrived shortly after the hour mark as Mbappe found the top corner from the edge of the box. Dembele then put the result beyond doubt with a clinical finish after driving forward from midfield.
France will now look to continue their bid for another World Cup title when they take on either Spain or Belgium in Tuesday’s semifinal.
Earlier, defending champions Argentina fought back from two goals down to defeat Egypt 3-2 and book their place in the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The Round of 16 match, played in Atlanta, United States, saw Argentina produce a dramatic second-half comeback after trailing 2-0.
Egypt took the lead in the first half through Yasser Ibrahim. Argentina were then awarded a penalty, but captain Lionel Messi failed to convert as Egyptian goalkeeper Mostafa Shobier produced an excellent save.
Mustafa Zeko thought he had doubled Egypt’s lead, but his effort was ruled out for a foul. However, he soon found the net again with a well-taken goal to give Egypt a 2-0 advantage.
Argentina began their comeback in the 80th minute when Cristian Romero pulled a goal back. Three minutes later, Messi equalised to make it 2-2 before Enzo Fernández scored the winner in the closing stages to seal a remarkable 3-2 victory.
Argentina will face the winners of Tuesday’s Round of 16 match between Colombia and Switzerland in the quarter-finals.
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