Image source: Alamy Stock Photo
Africa’s involvement at the 2026 World Cup is at an end after Morocco suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of France in a quarterfinal clash played at the Boston Stadium on Thursday.
The Atlas Lions were hoping to match their ground-breaking semifinal showing from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but Les Bleus proved too strong, and took the game on the back of second-half strikes from Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele.
France set up camp in the Morocco half for much of the first 10 minutes, while Mbappe produced the first sight at goal with a shot from outside the area which was subsequently saved by Yassine Bounou. The Morocco goalkeeper was then summoned into making a point blank save in the fourth minute after Dayot Upamecano latched onto a cross with a header from close range.
Les Bleus continued to probe inside the Morocco half, while the North African side had moments of possession inside the French half. France were then awarded a penalty in the 24th minute following a rapid counter attack from their own half. With Mbappe played into the area, the Real Madrid forward was then impeded by Noussair Mazraoui inside the box, prompting a lengthy check from the VAR officials. However, the Frenchman failed to convert his effort after Bounou guessed the right way.
France continued to hold most of the ball toward the half-time whistle, while they produced notable chances through the likes of Lucas Digne and Desire Doue.
The second-half commenced with both sides creating chances going forward, particularly with France applying the most pressure. France managed to break the deadlock on the hour-mark through Mbappe, who capped off a long period of possession with a classy curling effort beyond the Morocco goalkeeper.
Ousmane Dembele doubled his side’s advantage in the 65th minute following yet another quick move in transition. With momentum on the ball, Dembele drove forward as Morocco were back peddling before letting off a low curling shot beyond the goalkeeper.
Morocco came close to drawing one back in the 82nd minute after Azzedine Ounahi forced a save out of Mike Maignan following a free-kick situation outside the area. The Atlas Lions were then awarded a corner moments later as Neil El Aynaoui struck the side net with a glancing header.
Nonetheless, France managed to hold on with their clean sheet intact and will now look forward to facing either Spain or Belgium in the semi-finals at the Dallas Stadium on 14 July.
France: (0) 2 (Mbappe 60, Dembele 66’)
Morocco: 0
France: Maignan, Kounde (Gusto 87’), Upamecano, Saliba, Digne, Kone (Zaire-Emery 70’), Rabiot, Dembele, Olise, Doue (Barcola 77’), Mbappe (Mateta 77’)
Morocco: Bounou, Salah-Eddine (El Ouahdi 74’), Mazraoui, Diop, Hakimi, El Aynaoui, Bouaddi (Amrabat 62’), Khannouss (Rahimi 62’), Ounahi, Diaz (Yassine 74’), Talbi (Sbai 85’)
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