France 2-0 Morocco
It was the great Pele who was quoted as saying — a fair few decades ago now — that an African nation would win the World Cup before the end of the 20th century.
While the prediction didn’t come to pass, nor did it happen in his lifetime (the superstar passed away in December 2022), his confidence in the growth of African football was far from misplaced.
As countries from the continent consistently become stronger and more competitive, Morocco have led the way, as shown by their heroics in Qatar and followed it up by becoming the first African team to reach the quarter-finals at successive World Cups.
This locking of horns in Boston, though, would be the acid test for the Atlas Lions in a bumper World Cup 2026 quarter-final as they tried to finally defeat Les Bleus at the seventh time of asking (lost four, drawn two).
Highlights of the game
It was little surprise that France possessed the main threat, despite Morocco shading possession.
They could have led after five minutes when a short corner routine led to the ball reaching centre-back Dayot Upamecano but Yassine Bounou made the save. Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembele then teamed up to provide an opening for Adrien Rabiot, who headed over the top.
A potent front four of captain Kylian Mbappe, Dembele, Olise, and Desire Doue, perfectly supplemented by Bradley Barcola on the bench, would frighten any opponent and that’s exactly what happened midway through the first half.
This time it was Mbappe who led the charge, breaking with pace, bursting past Noussair Mazraoui, and the full-back was unable to get to the ball and brought down the player I considered to be the greatest on planet earth at the last World Cup.
What followed was farcical, as it took VAR more than three minutes to confirm the awarding of a penalty. It certainly would have done little for Mbappe’s focus, and sure enough, it was a poor spot-kick, as Bounou dived to his left.
He came to their rescue again when Ayyoub Bouaddi was dispossessed by Doue, who drove into the box and rifled a shot that was destined for the bottom corner until the last seconds.
With such an attacking array, the closest to a goal in the first half actually came from an unlikely source when full-back Lucas Digne pinged a shot which crashed back off the crossbar in stoppage time.
The live SBOTOP World Cup 2026 betting odds still leaned heavily towards France, but Morocco had held firm and were largely disciplined.
Could they offer a threat in the final third though after failing to muster a single effort on target in the first half? No was the answer (their first shot on target came in the 83rd minute), as the probing of Olise and the explosiveness of Mbappe remained relentless.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man as Mbappe gained possession on the edge of the area and expertly placed the ball into the far corner for his 20th World Cup goal. It was also his eighth goal in a tournament in which he has his own showreel of World Cup 2026 highlights.
If it was always going to take something special to beat Bounou, the Moroccan number one would have been disappointed five minutes later when he got a hand to a Dembele shot but couldn’t keep it out – the reigning world player of the year driving into space vacated by Mbappe’s run.
That confirmed the Atlas Lions were beaten. They continue to break new ground for African football and have had another tournament to be proud of. But France are a different beast – they look formidable.
Key statistics
France are the first team to have two players score five or more goals (Mbappe eight, Dembele five) in a single World Cup since Brazil in 2002 (Ronaldo eight, Rivaldo five).
Bounou has saved four World Cup penalties, the joint most by a goalkeeper since 1966.
Bouaddi has become the first-ever African player to make five World Cup appearances as a teenager.
Bouaddi lined up in the Moroccan midfield just 101 days after wearing a France kit, as he captained the under-21 side to a 2-1 win over Iceland in a European Championship qualifier. Bouaddi had been coveted by Morocco, and speaking before that game, said he needed some time to consider his international future.
Over the past six decades, Morocco have achieved several performance milestones for Africa at the World Cup. They were the first country to qualify directly, for the 1970 finals in Mexico, they returned in 1986 and became the first team from the continent to make the last 16, all before that impressive semi-final run in Qatar four years ago.
The only competitive contest between these teams took place at the 2022 semi-finals, a contest the French also won 2-0. Until tonight, Morocco had been unbeaten in 10 straight games since January’s controversial Africa Cup of Nations final.
What’s next?
Reigning European champions Spain or Belgium await in the first semi-final in Texas on Tuesday (July 14).
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