France‘s revenge tour continues, as Les Bleus are heading back to the World Cup semifinals. A resounding 2-0 win over Morocco, behind outstanding goals from Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, was enough to keep France’s chances at a third straight finals appearance alive.
France turned up the pressure early in the game, but Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine “Bono” Bounou continued his excellent campaign with three first-half saves — including a save on a penalty kick awarded to France. Mbappé, who had drawn the foul, took the kick after an oddly long VAR check, but Bono got an easy save.
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Les Bleus’ offensive frustration continued to start the second half, as Morocco finally started to get some shots of its own. But in the 60th minute, Mbappé finally broke through, taking advantage of a turnover for an excellent shot from the edge of the box.
Just six minutes later, Dembélé added another, nailing a shot to double France’s lead and boost his own Golden Boot stock. Mbappé was also a notable part of the goal, pulling the Moroccan defense out of Dembélé’s way before the forward took his shot.
Bono ended the game with six total saves, continuing to hold off France in the final minutes of the game, but the damage of that six-minute span was already done. Morocco fell to France, 2-0, eliminated by Les Bleus for the second World Cup in a row.
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Notably, though, Mbappé was subbed out of the game in the 77th minute after staying down for a moment with an unclear injury. The captain was later shown on the bench with an ice pack on his right ankle. However, Mbappé appeared to be fine postgame, and was dancing with his teammates after the win.
With the victory, Les Bleus will head to Dallas for a semifinal on Tuesday, facing the winner of the quarterfinal match between Spain and Belgium.
