Shafaqna Pakistan: France secured a place in the FIFA World Cup semi-finals with a 2-0 victory over Morocco on Thursday, as captain Kylian Mbappe recovered from an early penalty miss to inspire his side to victory.
Mbappe, who became the youngest player to reach 20 World Cup appearances at the age of 27, broke the deadlock just after the hour mark with a superb curling strike from the edge of the penalty area. Ousmane Dembele doubled France’s lead six minutes later with a low finish, setting up a semi-final clash against either Belgium or Spain.
The goal was Mbappe’s 20th in World Cup history, leaving him level with Lionel Messi as the tournament’s joint-leading scorer on eight goals and just one goal behind the Argentine on the competition’s all-time scoring chart.
“That’s three semi-finals in a row, which is a great achievement,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “It may seem natural, but you still have to earn it. The missed penalty was a difficult moment, but when it’s Kylian, he never loses confidence.”
“But we’re exactly where we wanted to be,” said Deschamps, who substituted Mbappe late in the game after a knock to his ankle. “We’re taking another step forward today, finding ourselves in the final four once again. It shows we’re right there in the mix.”
In a repeat of the 2022 World Cup semi-final, France, who have now kept clean sheets in all three knockout matches, looked the hungrier throughout with Morocco, aiming for a second straight last-four spot, badly missing injured forward Ismael Saibari, and failing to get a shot on target until the 84th minute.
“We are very disappointed, we wanted to advance,” said Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi. “We have to recognise that France is a great team with excellent players. France had the better scoring opportunities. We lacked ideas and freshness, and we have to accept this defeat.
“Today France were stronger but we are able to compete and progress and maybe eliminate them in four years’ time,” Ouahbi said. Morocco are co-hosting the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal.
Mbappe equals Lloris record
The French, bidding to become only the third nation to reach three consecutive World Cup finals, started strongly with a couple of early chances.
Mbappe, who also equalled the all-time French record held by Hugo Lloris for World Cup matches, had an early opportunity with a low drive that Morocco keeper Yassine Bounou managed to tip wide.
France earned a 28th-minute penalty through Mbappe but Bounou calmly stood his ground, picked the correct side and smothered the France forward’s low effort. It was Mbappe’s first penalty miss for the national team since Euro 2020.
The title favourites also hit the crossbar in first-half stoppage time through Lucas Digne’s powerful long-distance drive, as defensive-minded Morocco struggled to reach their opponents’ box and did not have an effort on or off target in the entire first half, with Brahim Diaz as the lone striker.
Mbappe made amends for his miss on the hour mark with a quick look up and superb finish, and before Morocco had time to recover the twice world champions struck again through Dembele.
The forward, who forms a formidable frontline with Mbappe and Michael Olise, made use of the space opened up by Mbappe’s run to rifle in the second goal and his fifth of the tournament.
“A mission? I don’t know but we can’t afford to let up,” Mbappe said. “There’s still a long way to go, and what lies ahead is even tougher, but we’ll recover well.”
source: Geo News
