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Day 29: Mbappé's redemption sends France past Morocco into the last four

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One game. That was the whole of Day 29 — the quarter-finals opening not with a flurry but with a single, heavyweight tie, the kind the last eight is built to give us. France against Morocco, a rematch of the 2022 semi-final, under the lights at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough — the venue FIFA has rebranded “Boston Stadium” for the tournament. And it delivered a story with a shape you couldn’t script: the best player at this World Cup missed a penalty, then won the match anyway.

France are through, 2-0, and off to Dallas. Morocco go home. Let’s get into how.

France 2, Morocco 0: the miss, then the masterclass

For an hour, France did everything but score. Dayot Upamecano headed a fifth-minute chance straight at Yassine Bounou. Désiré Doué had a shot smothered. Lucas Digne cracked a swerving effort off the crossbar. The pattern was set early: Les Bleus camped in Morocco’s half, and Bono — 35 now, playing his club football with Al Hilal — kept saying no.

Then came the moment that should have settled it, and instead nearly unsettled the favourites. Around the 25th minute, Noussair Mazraoui slid in on Kylian Mbappé, and Argentine referee Franco Tello pointed to the spot. Morocco were furious — beIN Sports reported the Moroccan players argued Mazraoui never made contact and that Mbappé had gone down before the challenge. A lengthy VAR check and a hydration break followed; by Opta’s count, three minutes and 11 seconds passed between Mbappé winning the penalty and taking it. When he finally struck it in the 28th minute, it was tame and low and straight — and Bono went the right way to push it clear.

It was a genuine rarity. Per beIN Sports, Mbappé became only the second French player to miss a penalty in regulation time at a World Cup, after Karim Benzema against Switzerland in 2014 — and, like Benzema that day, he made sure it didn’t cost him.

The second half was a different game, decided in six minutes. On the hour, Mbappé collected the ball on the edge of the box with no clear sight of goal, used Issa Diop as a screen, and bent a gorgeous strike into the far corner — Doué the man who helped tee it up, the finish all his own. Six minutes later he turned provider: Morocco backed off Ousmane Dembélé, which you simply cannot do, and the Ballon d’Or holder glided infield and passed a low shot into the bottom corner, Bono getting a hand to it but not enough.

Two goals, two minutes of real quality, and the tie was over.

The numbers around Mbappé are getting silly. That opener was his eighth of this World Cup and, per ESPN, the 20th World Cup goal of his career — one shy of Lionel Messi’s all-time record of 21. He is now level with Messi on goals at this tournament but ahead on assists, which, as BBC Sport noted, nudges him to the front of the Golden Boot race. Dembélé’s goal was his fifth here, and the pairing made a slice of history of its own: NBC Sports flagged an Opta stat that France are the first side to have two players score five or more in a single World Cup since Brazil’s Ronaldo (8) and Rivaldo (5) in 2002.

There was a late scare — Mbappé went down at the centre circle and was replaced by Jean-Philippe Mateta in the 77th minute, leaving the field with ice on his right ankle. He played it down afterwards. “I have a minor ankle injury, but I am completely fine,” he told reporters (via Sky Sports). “Mateta was in a better position to play the remaining minutes of the match and was fitter at that moment.” The image of him bouncing around with teammates at full time backed him up.

Bono’s night, and Morocco’s blunt exit

Spare a thought for the losing goalkeeper, because he was magnificent. Beyond the penalty, Bounou tipped Digne’s 35-yarder onto the bar and turned away Doué from close range. ESPN put his standing plainly: no goalkeeper has more World Cup penalty saves — shootouts included — than Bounou’s four. BBC Sport added that across his career he has been beaten by only two of the nine World Cup penalties he has faced. On another night, he steals this.

In front of him, Morocco were oddly toothless. Head coach Mohamed Ouahbi set up without a recognised centre-forward — reports (NBC, Sky) pointed to the absence of the injured Ismael Saibari, with Chemsdine Talbi asked to lead the line and the more natural strikers Soufiane Rahimi and Ayoub El Kaabi left on the bench. Teenager Ayyoub Bouaddi, who switched his international allegiance from France to Morocco only months ago, shielded the back line tidily, and Issa Diop was booked on 63 minutes as the game tilted. But it added up to almost nothing going forward: ESPN counted 13 France shots to Morocco’s one in the opening half, and BBC Sport noted the Atlas Lions’ only effort on target arrived in the 83rd minute, with the tie long gone.

Ouahbi, for his part, looked forward rather than back. “The future will be bright if we continue like this,” he said (via Sky Sports). “We represent the Moroccan people, and many countries across Asia and Africa. Many people see themselves in this team, and we’ll keep working to win titles in the future.”

The bracket: France are first into Dallas

France are the first team into the semi-finals, and it was their sixth straight win at this World Cup — a run that has produced 16 goals, more than any other side, per BBC Sport. Former England striker Ian Wright, speaking to the BBC before kick-off, called Deschamps’ team “one of the most clear favourites for a World Cup tournament I have ever seen.” Hard to argue on this evidence: ESPN noted France have now reached three consecutive World Cup semi-finals, and they are chasing a third successive final after winning in 2018 and losing to Argentina on penalties in 2022.

Their last-four opponent comes from Friday’s quarter-final between Spain and Belgium, with that semi-final set for Dallas next Tuesday. The other half of the bracket is still filling in: Norway — who stunned Brazil in the last 16 — meet England on Saturday, and Argentina face Switzerland on Sunday to complete the last eight. Live scores for all of it are at whatsthescore.football.

For now, the takeaway from a one-match Thursday is the one everyone left Boston with: even when Kylian Mbappé misses, France find a way. And nobody has found a way to stop them yet.

Sources

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