World Cup: Mbappe steers France past toothless Lions
by Moronfolu Adeyemi · The Eagle OnlineKylian Mbappe stole the headlines once more as France defeated a toothless Atlas Lions of Morocco at Boston Stadium in the United States of America to reach the FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-finals.
Mbappe recovered from a first-half penalty miss to score his eighth goal of the finals.
That was before setting up Ousmane Dembele for his fifth as the two-time champions booked a last-four meeting with either Belgium or Spain.
France signalled their intent early, with Dayot Upamecano heading a fifth-minute corner straight at Yassine Bounou.
After dominating possession, Les Bleus were handed a golden opportunity to take the lead when Noussair Mazraoui brought down Mbappe in the penalty area.
The France captain stepped up, but Bounou produced a fine save to send the sides in level at the break.
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The breakthrough arrived on the hour mark when Mbappe curled a superb finish into the far corner from the edge of the area.
The France talisman turned provider moments later, slipping Dembele through to fire a composed finish into the bottom corner.
Didier Deschamps’ side comfortably saw out the remainder to reach a third successive World Cup semi-final, following their triumph in 2018 and runners-up finish to Argentina at Qatar 2022.
Though possession was put at 46 percent each for the two teams with the remaining 8 percent in contest, other stats of the match showed Morocco did not come to the party against France.
While France had 22 attempts at goal, Morocco had just five.
For France, the On Target attempt at goal was eight, with Morocco having just one, while off target was 10-3.
For attempts at goal inside the penalty area, the Atlas Lions recorded one while Morocco had 13.
For those outside the penalty area, the Les Bleus had nine with Morocco having four.
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