France 2-0 Morocco: Mbappé and Dembélé send France into the World Cup semi-finals
France beat Morocco 2-0 in Boston to become the first semi-finalist of the 2026 World Cup. Mbappé now has eight goals in the tournament; Dembélé added his fifth.
France are the first team into the 2026 World Cup semi-finals. In Boston, the quarter-final against Morocco ended 2-0 without much drama — and with the usual names on the scoresheet: Kylian Mbappé, now on eight goals for the tournament, and Ousmane Dembélé, who grabbed his fifth.
Morocco arrived here after knocking out the Netherlands on penalties and once again showed the structure that made them the most feared African side in the competition. This time, though, there was no lottery: France controlled the tempo, waited for the gaps and were clinical when they opened. Morocco leave with an enormous tournament behind them; France leave with the feeling that the machine is peaking at exactly the right moment.
Who scored in France vs Morocco?
Mbappé opened the scoring and Dembélé sealed it, in a match where the French defence was rarely troubled. The individual numbers are frightening: eight goals for Mbappé in six games, five for Dembélé. The full match sheet is on FIFA’s official site.
When are the 2026 World Cup semi-finals?
France will face the winner of Spain vs Belgium, which kicks off on Friday — our preview of that one is here. The French semi-final is set for AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. On the other side of the bracket, Norway-England and Argentina-Switzerland close out the quarter-finals on Saturday.
A week and a half to go until the July 19 final. And France — 2018 champions, 2022 finalists — are back where they almost always are: in the last four, looking like they still have another gear.
By Vasco Almada
Image: Bryan Berlin / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)