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| Kylian Mbappe has scored 20 goals in 20 World Cup matches Photos: Courtesy BBC |
Kylian Mbappé redeemed an earlier missed penalty by scoring a brilliant curling strike to send France into the World Cup semi-finals after a 2-0 win over Morocco.
Mbappé won a first-half penalty when Manchester United defender Noussair Mazraoui fouled him, but his weak spot-kick was comfortably saved by goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
The Real Madrid forward made amends in the 60th minute, bending a superb shot from just inside the box into the net to give France a deserved lead.
Six minutes later, Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé doubled the advantage. Allowed to charge at the Moroccan defence, Dembélé curled a low effort past Bounou, who got a hand to the shot but could not keep it out.
Mbappé’s strike takes him to eight goals at this World Cup, level with Argentina’s Lionel Messi in the tournament scoring charts but now ahead in the Golden Boot race thanks to more assists.
The France captain also narrowed the gap in the all-time World Cup scoring list, moving to 20 career goals compared with Messi’s 21.
Two-time champions France, beaten by Argentina in the 2022 final, will face the winner of Spain vs. Belgium in the semi-final in Dallas on Tuesday (20:00 BST).
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| Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou has only been beaten by two of the nine penalties he has faced at World Cups (saved four, three missed the target - including shootouts) |
France again show why they are favourites to win tournament
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) writes that France won the World Cup in 1998 and 2018 and have been tipped by many to go on and lift the trophy again on 19 July.
According to the BBC report, before this quarter-final, former England striker Ian Wright described Didier Deschamps' side as "one of the most clear favourites for a World Cup tournament I have ever seen".
A match against Morocco, a rematch of the 2022 World Cup semi-final which France also won 2-0, was expected to be the toughest test so far.
Morocco, seventh in the world rankings, were frozen out though, registering their only shot on target in the 83rd minute when 2-0 down. They had only five attempts in total, four of those off target.
France's intent was shown early on when Mbappe had a 25-yard strike pushed wide, with Bounou then keeping out Dayot Upamecano's header from the following corner.
Dembele and Adrien Rabiot also missed opportunities, before Mbappe's weak penalty.
The striker had to wait more than three minutes before the spot-kick as the video assistant referee checked whether there was a foul, and Mbappe then stuttered in his run-up before his low shot to the right corner was easily saved.
But France remained on top. Desire Doue had a strike saved and Aston Villa defender Lucas Digne sent a long-range effort against the crossbar, with perhaps the slightest touch from Bounou.
It was just a matter of time before the goals came and two in quick succession ended the game as a contest.
The only slight concern for France was the sight of the substituted Mbappe with ice on his right ankle after being replaced by Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta in the 77th minute.
After the game, Mbappe showed any potential injury was not a serious one as he jumped around with team-mates to celebrate their sixth victory in a row at this tournament.
As well as having the joint top scorer in Mbappe, France are now also the leading team scorers in the competition with 16 goals from six games.
They remain the team to beat at this World Cup, the BBC report concluded.
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