France booked a place in the World Cup semifinals on Thursday, beating Morocco 2-0 in a quarterfinal near Boston with a controlled second-half performance. The win, a repeat of the sides' 2022 semifinal, sends France into the last four and ends the run of the tournament's final African side.
How it was won
Neither team could find a breakthrough in a cagey first half, but France took over after the interval. Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring in the 60th minute, then Ousmane Dembele doubled the lead six minutes later, ESPN reported. The two goals in quick succession settled the contest, and France saw out the rest of the match without alarm, Al Jazeera reported. It was a display in keeping with France's tournament: patient, efficient, and ruthless when the chances came.
A familiar last-four
The result carried an echo of four years ago, when France beat Morocco 2-0 in the 2022 semifinal on their way to the final. For Morocco, the defeat is a disappointment but not a disgrace: having made history in 2022 as the first African team to reach a World Cup semifinal, they again reached the last eight and again came up against one of the sport's powers. Their exit leaves the tournament without an African representative in the final four.
France roll on
France, among the pre-tournament favorites, have now reached a third straight World Cup semifinal, an extraordinary run of consistency, and they have done it without appearing to move out of second gear. Their reward is a last-four tie against the winner of Spain and Belgium, who meet next. On the other side of the draw, the holders Argentina, built around Lionel Messi, are still in the hunt, setting up the possibility of heavyweight collisions as the tournament narrows.
What comes next
For France, the questions now are about the sternest tests to come, not the one just passed. They have looked the part throughout, but the semifinals and a possible final will demand more against opposition of real quality. For Morocco, there is the harder consolation of another deep run and the sense that their rise is no fluke. The last four is set to take shape over the coming days; France, for their part, are already there, and doing it with the calm of a team that expects to be.
