Overview
- France advanced to the World Cup semi-finals with a 2-0 quarter-final win over Morocco in Boston on Thursday.
- Mbappé had a first-half penalty delayed by VAR for over three minutes and saw the spot-kick saved by Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
- He recovered to score in the 60th minute and set up Ousmane Dembélé’s goal six minutes later, bringing his tournament total to eight and his career World Cup tally to 20.
- Mbappé was substituted late after suffering a right-ankle knock that coach Didier Deschamps called slight and said would be monitored ahead of France’s semi‑final in Dallas.
- The match underlined Mbappé’s on-field leadership in creating the second goal, renewed scrutiny of VAR’s lengthy review process, and the end of Morocco’s deep tournament run.